United Athletic Conference

 

The Utah Valley Wolverines are the 2021 WAC Tournament Champions. The Wolverines took down NM State and Seattle U on the way to their third WAC Tournament title. It took penalty kicks to earn the victory over fifth-seeded NM State. In the shootout, Utah Valley outscored the Aggies 4-3 to move on to the championship match against Seattle U.

 

In what would be a rematch of the championship game from 2019, the Wolverines earned a penalty kick in the 76th minute that gave Utah Valley a 1-0 lead that they would never relinquish.

 

The Wolverines were led by WAC Tournament MVP Cassidy McCormick who knocked in the game-winner against Seattle U. McCormick was joined by fellow Wolverines Isabel Jones-Dawe, Anna Pickering and Heather Stainbrook on the All-Tournament Team. Also earning All-Tournament honors was Seattle U's Michele Adam, Ava Benedetti and Hallie Bergford, Grand Canyon's Jaycee Iranshad and Raeanne Jones and NM State's Corey Kizer and Hannah Leitner.

 

The Utah Valley Wolverines learned Monday that they will be opposite Memphis in the First Round of the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship.

 

The Wolverines (12-4-4, 10-2-2) earned the WAC's automatic qualification by defeating Seattle U in the WAC Tournament Championship this past Saturday. It has been a complete team effort for UVU this season as four different Wolverines share the team lead in goals with five scores each. However, redshirt junior Sadie Brockbank leads the team in points with 15 as she recorded five goals and five assists on the year. Sophomore Heather Stainbrook also plays a crucial part in the Wolverine offense, recording five goals and four assists from the midfield.

 

Utah Valley will take on Memphis (8-3, 6-1), an at-large from the American. The Tigers are led by junior forward Tanya Boychuk who heads to the tournament with three goals and one assist to her name.

 

The Wolverines' First Round matchup with Memphis is set for April 28 at 4 p.m. ET. The entire NCAA Tournament will be held in Cary, N.C., and the surrounding areas. Games will be held on campus at Campbell, East Carolina and the University of North Carolina Wilmington, in addition to Bryan Park (Greensboro), J. Burt Gillette Athletic Complex (Wilson), Sportsplex (Mathews) and WakeMed Soccer Park (Cary).

 

Seattle U boasted the Offensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, while Utah Valley and Grand Canyon also won specialty awards to highlight the 2020-21 WAC Women's Soccer all-conference teams. Sydney Carr of Seattle U was named Offensive Player of the Year, and teammate Hallie Bergford was tabbed as Freshman of the Year for the Redhawks. UVU defender Jenna Shepherd was chosen as Defensive Player of the Year, while Grand Canyon coach Chris Cissell, in his first season with the Lopes, was voted as conference Coach of the Year. For the entire all-conference team, please see page 4 of this week's release.

 

Six players who had been on the preseason all-conference squad were ultimately chosen to the end-of-season all-WAC first-team. Emily Zapata (UT Rio Grande Valley), Marleen Schimmer (Grand Canyon), Amber Tripp (Utah Valley), Michele Adam (Seattle U), Erin Gallagher (California Baptist), and Jenna Shepherd (Utah Valley) appeared on both all-conference teams, as had been chosen by conference coaches.

 

Following the WAC Tournament, the Seattle U offense was at the top of a pair of categories. The Redhawks finished with a total of 121 points in 19 matches while also leading in goals (41). Grand Canyon with the most assists at 43. Utah Valley ranked fourth in points (111), third in goals (38), while listing fourth in assists (33). California Baptist was tops in shots (327)... California Baptist allowed just 15 goals during the regular season to claim the top mark in the WAC while UVU led in goals-against average at 0.76 as they totaled a league-high 10 shutouts. Chicago State led the WAC, and ranked among the national leaders, with 131 total saves and an average of 8.19 stops per game.

 

Seattle U's Sydney Carr, the WAC Offensive Player of the Year, finished the year with 16 goals and 38 points, claiming conference-leading honors in both categories. Dixie State's Whitley Griffiths finished second in the loop with 10 goals and 21 points. Leahi Manthei and Carr of Seattle U were one-two in assists, with seven and six helpers, respectively... California Baptist's Romy Salvador led the WAC with a 0.85 goals-against average and ranked fourth with a .779 save percentage. UT Rio Grande Valley's Maile Lunardi was third with a 0.99 GAA and led the way with a .827 save percentage. Lunardi also lead the WAC with three regular-season shutouts.

 

WAC members finished 7-15-4 in non-conference matches, securing two wins each against Conference USA, the Southland Conference, and non-Division I foes. The other non-league win came versus the West Coast Conference.

 

Seattle U was the preseason favorite to win the 2020-21 Western Athletic Conference women's soccer title in a vote of the league's eight head coaches, who could not vote for their own team.

 

The Redhawks had received five of eight first-place votes for 46 total points to earn the preseason nod by just two points over Utah Valley, who collected the remaining three first-place votes and 44 points. Those two schools ultimately finished tied for the most points in the final regular-season standings (32) with identical 10-2-2 records.

 

Dixie State head coach Molly Rouse led the Trailblazers into their Division I era after serving two seasons at an assistant at Minnesota. Also donning a new color, but not new to the WAC, is Grand Canyon head coach Chris Cissell, who came to GCU after nine seasons at Kansas City, where he claimed 102 victories, three WAC regular-season titles and two WAC Coach of the Year honors.

 

As Tarleton continues its growth to NCAA Division I, the athletics department will be adding women's soccer with the expectation to begin play in the fall of 2022. The nationwide search for a head coach is ongoing and the finalist will be named this spring, allowing for a full year of recruitment before beginning the inaugural soccer season.

 

On Jan. 14, the WAC announced the addition of five new schools in the near future. Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin were all offered and accepted membership invitations and will join the WAC on July 1, 2021. Southern Utah also received and accepted a membership invitation, and will join the league on July 1, 2022. With the additions, the WAC will have six schools in Texas, more than any other conference in the country, and three schools in Utah, also a national best.