WAC TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Denver Pioneers (14-1-4, 6-0-2 WAC)
The Pioneers won a share of their first Western Athletic Conference title this weekend, sharing the spoils with Utah State ... Denver will have the No. 2 seed in this week’s WAC Tournament ... the conference title is the sixth for the Pioneers since turning NCAA Division I in 1998 (didn’t join a conference until 2000) ... senior forward Kaitlin Bast has scored in four-consecutive matches. Bast is in fifth in career points (97) and fourth in career goals (38) ... this weekend’s results stretched the Pioneers’ unbeaten streak to 18 matches, the longest single-season stretch in program history ... Denver strung together a 19-match unbeaten stretch across the 2010 and 2011 seasons ... Denver has outscored opponents 43-13 this season, including 22-6 in the opening 45 minutes ... DU is 25-4-2 in NCAA Division I conference tournament play, and 1-1 in matches that go to penalties.
Idaho Vandals (6-13-1, 3-4-1 WAC)
Idaho split its weekend matches after falling to WAC co-champion Denver on Friday, 5-1, in a downpour of sleet and snow … coming into Sunday, Idaho faced a win-or-stay-home situation and responded with a 3-1 victory over New Mexico State on Senior Day to clinch a third-consecutive WAC Tournament bid … Idaho’s seniors became the winningest four-year group in school history and on Sunday, they won their 22nd home match of the last four years, which also broke the record for a four-year span … Idaho has now won its last two Senior Day matches after dropping the previous seven in a row.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (12-4-4, 3-3-2 WAC)
With her three saves in a 3-1 win over Southern Miss earlier this year, goalkeeper Caitlin Updyke became the all-time career leader in saves for Louisiana Tech. The junior now has 165, passing Cat Buchanan ... LA Tech started the season 4-0 for only the second time in program history ... after recording only three goals combined her freshman and sophomore year, junior forward Emily Brennan has already more than doubled that total with seven goals scored on the season to lead the team ... for the first time in LA Tech history, the Lady Techsters won three consecutive conference games, and all three were shutouts ... LA Tech already has 11 shutouts to their credit this season, surpassing the previous season record which was 10 set back in 2008.
New Mexico State Aggies (2-14-3, 0-7-1 WAC)
The Aggies started the final road trip of the season on a strong note with an early goal but fell to Seattle, 2-1, Oct. 26 ... sophomore forward Layla Todd scored her third goal of the season in the seventh minute for the Aggies, but the Redhawks tied the game before halftime and won the game on a penalty kick in the final minutes of regulation ... the Aggie offense attacked early when freshman midfielder/forward Miranda Valdez found Todd to give NM State a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute of action. Todd now has a team-high three goals, and the assist was a career first for Valdez ... NM State concluded its 2012 season at Idaho with a 3-1 loss in the season finale, Oct. 28 ... Todd scored a goal for the Aggies in back-to-back matches on the road trip, and she led the team with four goals in 2012.
San Jose State Spartans (6-11-1, 3-5-0 WAC)
San Jose State defeated Louisiana Tech 2-1 in the team’s lone match of the week last week ... the win was not enough to advance the Spartans to the 2012 WAC Tournament ... San Jose State had the best start to its season since 1999, going 2-1-1 in its first four games ... their eight goals scored was the team’s greatest offensive output in that span since 2000 ... with her 18 shots this season, senior Kelsey Lord now ranks third all-time in shots taken in the program’s history ... freshman Mikaella Meibock had a breakout start to her season, scoring four goals and taking 24 shots in just 11 games ... junior Megan Molina has been a reliable midfielder for the Spartans, playing in every game ... the Spartans will have at least seven players with 10 or more shots taken this season, the most since 2008.
Seattle U Redhawks (8-8-2, 3-3-2 WAC)
Seattle U is headed to its first WAC Tournament and will face Louisiana Tech in the first round on Thursday, Nov. 1 ... Brittany Lott made her first two career starts over the weekend, versus New Mexico State and Denver ... she recorded seven saves over the weekend ... Julia Besagno and Heather Thomas led the team with one goal, two points, and four shots over the weekend ... over the weekend, Stephanie Verdoia led the Redhawks with nine shots overall ... seven Redhawks played their final home game in Seattle U uniform versus Denver - Carlee Norquist, Liana Heberer, Chelsea Jennings, Heather Thomas, Renee Vandermause, Taylor Bolibol, and Melissa Busque
UTSA Roadrunners (3-12-2, 2-4-2 WAC)
UTSA dropped a 1-0 decision in double overtime to rival Texas State ... with the loss, the Roadrunners will not advance to the 2012 WAC Soccer Tournament ... UTSA opened WAC play this season with a pair of ties against Seattle (Sept. 28) and Idaho (Sept. 30) ... the Roadrunners played in four overtime matches, which is the most in program history ... in UTSA’s Aug. 19 match against Dayton, the Roadrunners started six freshmen, which was the most since a Sept. 18, 2008, contest at Utah State ... UTSA has started at least three freshmen in every contest this season.
Texas State Bobcats (7-11-1, 4-4-0 WAC)
Texas State earned its fifth shutout of the year, Sunday at UTSA in a 1-0 double overtime victory ... with the win, Texas State takes the third seed into this week’s WAC Soccer Tournament in Logan, Utah ... the Bobcats stayed unbeaten in overtime games this year going 1-0-1. Both games have gone to double overtime, with the first game this season ending in a tie against Houston Baptist ... in the last two years, the Bobcats are 4-0-2 in overtime contests ... going into Thursday’s game against Idaho, Texas State has never lost to a team in the conference tournament, that it went undefeated against in the regular season. The Bobcats beat Idaho 2-1 earlier this season in the teams’ only matchup.
Utah State Aggies (11-2-6, 6-0-2 WAC)
Utah State secured a share of the 2012 WAC Soccer regular season title with a win over Louisiana Tech at home last week ... the win also proved to be enough for the No. 1 seed at the upcoming WAC tournament, which Utah State will host this week ... sophomore forward Jade Tarver scored the game-winning goal in USU’s 4-0 win against Louisiana Tech to capture its third-straight WAC regular-season title ... Tarver scored the first two goals for Utah State to give the Aggies the No. 1 seed in the upcoming WAC Tournament in Logan ... Ashlyn Mulford capped off her senior day with a 90-minute shutout against Louisiana Tech ... Mulford earned her fifth shutout in conference action. Mulford collected five saves in the win as the Lady Techsters took 11 shots.
WAC NOTES
WAC SOCCER PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Offensive: Jade Tarver, So., F, Utah State
Tarver scored the game-winning goal in Utah State’s 4-0 win against Louisiana Tech to capture its third-straight WAC regular season title. The sophomore scored the first two goals for Utah State to give the Aggies the No. 1 seed in the upcoming WAC tournament in Logan. Tarver was very efficient with two goals on two shots in the win. Tarver ended the regular season tied with Jennifer Flynn for the points lead with six goals and two assists for 14 points.
Other offensive nominees included: Denver senior forward Kaitlin Bast … Idaho senior midfielder Erica Hart … New Mexico State sophomore forward Layla Todd …
Defensive: Jessy Battelli, Jr., D, Denver
Battelli, a junior defender from Golden, Colo. (D’Evelyn HS), scored the fourth goal of her career on Friday afternoon, finishing a corner kick to give Denver a 2-1 lead over Idaho on her second career game-winning goal. Battelli played all 180 minutes for a DU back line that allowed a combined three shots on goal at Idaho and Seattle U this past weekend.
Other defensive nominees included: Texas State senior defender Alissa Scott.
Goalkeeper: Natalie Gardini, Jr., GK, Texas State
Gardini, a junior goalkeeper from Austin, Texas (Westwood HS), earned her fourth shutout of the year on Sunday at UTSA in a 1-0 double-overtime win. Gardini had five saves, with all five coming from about eight yards in front of the goal. She came out of the goal to scoop up a loose ball on numerous occasions, preventing an unabated UTSA forward from gaining possession near the goal. The win marked the first time in the seven-year history between Texas State and UTSA that a Texas State goalkeeper has been able to shutout the Roadrunners.
Other goalkeeper nominees included: Utah State senior goalkeeper Ashlyn Mulford.
UTAH STATE AND DENVER CLAIM SHARE OF WAC REGULAR SEASON TITLE
Utah State and Denver each picked up wins on Sunday, claiming a share of the 2012 WAC soccer regular season title with identical 6-0-2 records. Utah State wins its third-straight WAC regular season title, while Denver earns its first title in its first year in the WAC.
DENVER AND UTAH STATE RANKED REGIONALLY
Both Denver and Utah State are ranked regionally in the NSCAA Western Regional Poll. Denver moves up to No. 5 this week while Utah State remains at No. 10. You can also expect Denver to remain in the top-25 in the Soccer America poll. Denver has also been receiving votes in the NSCAA Top-25 poll that comes out on Tuesday.
2012 NSCAA West Regional Rankings
1 Brigham Young
2 Santa Clara
3 Portland
4 Pepperdine
5 Denver
6 Long Beach State
7 CS Northridge
8 UC Irvine
9 Loyola Marymount
10 Utah State
2012 WAC TOURNAMENT
The 2012 WAC Tournament heads to Logan, Utah this week. The tournament will played at the Chuck and Gloria Bell Soccer Field. Utah State earned the top seed, while Denver recieved the No. 2 seed. The top two seeds receive first-round byes. Texas State is the No. 3 seed, while Louisiana Tech is the fourth seed. Seattle U earned the fifth seed and Idaho is the sixth seed.
2012 NCAA COLLEGE CUP
The 32nd Annual Women’s College Cup will be held Nov. 30 and Dec. 2, 2012, in San Diego, Calif., at the University of San Diego Torero Stadium. Last season, the WAC had one team compete in postseason play with Utah State falling in the fi rst round to Auburn.
