WAC TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES

Denver Pioneers (1-1-0, 0-0-0 WAC)
After splitting its opening weekend games, Denver is 3-1 in the two years of the Colorado Cup ... the Pioneers dropped a 1-0 decision to Colorado College before defeating Northern Colorado 2-1 in Colorado Cup play ... Bast’s two goals in the opening weekend marked the return for the DU senior, who missed the final 15 games of 2011 due to injury ... senior goalkeeper Lara Campbell (46-12-2) moved to within four wins of Danielle Wiley for the top-career mark in school history ... freshman midfielder Francesca Garzelloni played 152 minutes in the opening weekend of her collegiate career, tallying an assist on Bast’s equalizer on Sunday.

Idaho Vandals (1-1-0, 0-0-0 WAC)
Idaho went 1-1-0 during the team’s opening weekend ... the Vandals opened with a strong performance at Texas Tech, but gave up a late score in a 2-1 loss ... the team bounced back for a 1-0 double-overtime win over South Dakota on Sunday in its home opener ... the Vandals are now 10-4-1 all-time in home openers, with wins in three of their last four ... senior forward Chelsea Small’s game-winning score on Sunday extended her Idaho career records to 32 total goals and 13 career game-winners ... senior goalkeeper Liz Boyden took sole possession of Idaho’s career shutouts record on Sunday with the 12th clean sheet of her career.

Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (0-0-0, 0-0-0 WAC)
Louisiana Tech’s match against Murray State was cancelled last week due to poor field conditions ... the Lady Techsters open the 2012 season on Tuesday against LSU-Shreveport ... the team will also travel to play Central Arkansas on Sunday.

New Mexico State Aggies (0-2-0, 0-0-0 WAC)
The New Mexico State soccer team suffered a 1-0 loss at Boise State to open the 2012 season in the first match of the Holiday Inn Classic in Boise, Idaho, Aug. 17 ... at halftime, the match was tied at 0-0 ... both teams had seven shots after 45 minutes of action, but the Aggies had a 3-1 advantage in shots on goal ... sophomore midfielder Katie Smith led the NM State offense with three shots in the first half ... senior defender Courtney Irwin helped anchor the Aggie defense that posted two consecutive first-half shutouts against Boise State, Aug. 17, and Idaho State, Aug. 19 ... NM State only allowed an average of 11.0 shots per game ... junior goalkeeper Jessica Schutter recorded first-half shutouts and grabbed six saves with a .667 save percentage along with a 1.50 goals against average.

San Jose State Spartans (0-1-1, 0-0-0 WAC)
San Jose State has recorded its best two-game start to the season since 2007 with a tie and a loss ... the Spartans’ 2012 season opener ended in a 1-1 tie versus USF on Aug. 17, and the team dropped its first away game of the season at California, 5-2, on Aug. 19 ... the best offensive player over the Spartans two-game weekend, junior Megan Molina recorded a goal at Cal and an assist versus USF for three points, and took three shots ... Jeff Leightman coached the 350th game of his major college career at the Spartans’ home opener versus the USF Dons. He coached at Binghamton University for 10 seasons prior to San Jose State ... Helen Phan scored her first career goal in 33 games played in the 1-1 tie versus USF. Her two games started this season have already matched her career high set in 2010.

Seattle U Redhawks (1-1-0, 0-0-0 WAC)
Senior Melissa Busque had a hat trick for the Redhawks versus St. Mary’s on Aug. 19, scoring three goals and co-leading the team with 5 shots ... she also co-led the team with three shots in the Aug. 17 contest versus Washington ... freshman goalkeeper Brianna Smallidge played all 180 minutes for the Redhawks this weekend, making her first two career starts ... freshman Julia Moravec also co-led the team in each of the team’s two games this weekend, with 3 shots on Aug. 17 and 5 shots on Aug. 19 ... the Redhawks outshot their opponents 41-20 on opening weekend, with 28 of those shots coming against St. Mary’s ... this week, Seattle U travels to play at San Diego State on Friday before hosting Eastern Washington on Sunday.

UTSA Roadrunners (0-2-0, 0-0-0 WAC)
In Sunday’s match against Dayton, UTSA started six freshmen, which was the most since a Sept. 18, 2008, contest at Utah State ... the Roadrunners fell to the Aggies 2-0 with three freshmen playing all 90 minutes ... freshman Simone Boye scored UTSA’s first goal of the season in the 63rd minute against the Flyers. The Denmark native took a cross from senior Lindsay South to break up Dayton’s shutout bid ... after a pair of defeats in the season’s opening weekend, UTSA will look to bounce back on Saturday, Aug. 25, when it travels to College Station, Texas, for a matchup with No. 14 Texas A&M.

Texas State Bobcats (1-0-0, 0-0-0 WAC)
Texas State won its season opener for the fourth time in the last five years ... in each of the four victories, Texas State has posted a shutout ... in four of the previous five times in program history the Bobcats have won their season opener, they have advanced to the NCAA Tournament ... the one season the Bobcats won the season opener, but did not advance to the NCAA Tournament (2009), they still tied the school record for wins, going 14-6-1, and earned the regular season conference championship ... Jourdan Brown scored the winning goal in the Bobcats 1-0 victory over Sam Houston State Sunday night ... Brown matched last season’s goal total with her goal, giving her two for her career ... this week, Texas State travels to take on UTEP on Wednesday before facing Army on Friday in El Paso.

Utah State Aggies (2-0-0, 0-0-0 WAC)
Utah State opened its 2012 season with a pair of victories ... the Aggies defeated in-state rival Utah 1-0 in overtime at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah ... USU also defeated UTEP 2-1 at home ... with the win against UTEP, USU improves to 2-0 on the young season and runs its home unbeaten streak to 14-straight matches ... the Aggies scored three goals by three different people in the two wins last week ... the Aggies gave up only one goal during the two games ... defender Natalie Norris and goalkeeper Ashlyn Mulford each received WAC Player of the Week honors for their defensive prowess this past week ... this week, the Aggies travel to Omaha to take on Creighton and Nebraska Omaha.

WAC NOTES

WAC SOCCER PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Offensive: Melissa Busque, Sr., F, Seattle U
Busque scored a hat trick in Sunday’s game against St. Mary’s, scoring the first two goals of the match and adding a third on a corner kick in the second half. Busque’s three goals led the Redhawks to a 5-1 victory over the Gaels.

Other offensive nominees included: Denver senior forward Kaitlin Best … Texas State sophomore midfielder Jourdan Brown … Utah State junior midfielder Jennifer Flynn.

Defensive: Natalie Norris, Sr., D, Utah State
Norris played every minute of the Aggies’ first two matches on the USU backline that allowed only one goal in 183 minutes of action. Norris anchored the USU defense to an overtime shutout victory over Utah and a 2-1 win against UTEP. Norris also scored the game-tying goal in the 77th minute against UTEP to tie the score at 1-1.

Other defensive nominees included: New Mexico State senior defender Courtney Irwin … Seattle U senior defender Renee Vandermause … Texas State sophomore defender Michelle Bucy.

Goalkeeper: Ashlyn Mulford, Sr., GK, Utah State
Mulford earned her first career win and first shutout against in-state rival Utah at Rio Tinto Stadium on Friday. She helped guide the Aggies to a 1-0 overtime win over the Utes for USU’s fourth-straight win at Rio Tinto Stadium. She recorded seven saves in the 93 minute match to keep Utah off the board. She helped lead USU to its second-straight win over Utah.

Other goalkeeper nominees included: Idaho senior goalkeeper Liz Boyden … New Mexico State junior goalkeeper Jessica Schutter … Seattle U freshman goalkeeper Brianna Smallidge … Texas State junior goalkeeper Natalie Gardini.

WEEK 1 RECAP
Utah State went a perfect 2-0 to open the 2012 season with wins over Utah and UTEP. The Aggies defeated in-state rival Utah 1-0 in overtime at Real Salt Lake’s Rio Tinto Stadium. USU also defeated UTEP 2-1 in its home opener. Texas State went 1-0 in week No. 1. The Bobcats defeated Sam Houston State 1-0. Denver, Idaho and Seattle U each split a pair of matches to open the season, while San Jose State went 0-1-1. New Mexico State and UTSA opened 2012 with 0-2 records. Louisiana Tech did not play last week and opens its season on Tuesday at home against LSU-Shreveport.

SEATTLE U’S BUSQUE RECORDS HAT TRICK
Seattle U senior forward Melissa Busque had a hat trick in Sunday’ game versus St. Mary’s, scoring the first two goals of the match and adding a third on a corner kick in the second half. Her three goals led to a 5-1 victory over St. Mary’s. Busque also co-led the team in shots in both matches over the weekend, with three (Aug. 17 vs. Washington) and five (Aug. 19 vs. St. Mary’s) shots.