LIVE STATS: Live up to the minute stats for all five matches of the 2006 Western Athletic Conference Soccer Tournament can be viewed at the following link: http://www.nevadawolfpack.com/liveStats/liveStats.dbml?SPSID=45476&SPID=4086&DB_OEM_ID=10000&LIST_SPORT_ID=4086
RENO, Nev. -- The Pack’s two wins over the weekend against Hawai’i and San Jose State gave Nevada a third place finish in the WAC standings and Nevada earned the number three seed in this week’s WAC Tournament. WAC Tournament host Nevada will take on sixth-seeded Hawai’i in the quarterfinals on Thursday at 5:30 p.m., a team that Nevada beat 5-0 over the weekend. The winner of the Nevada/Hawai’i game will take on second-seeded Utah State on Friday at 5:30 p.m. in the semifinals. The championship match is Sunday at 1 p.m. All tournament games will be played at Mackay Stadium. (All times are Pacific).
This Week:
Western Athletic Conference Tournament
Quarterfinals:
Nevada (11-4-3, 4-2-1 WAC) vs. Hawai’i (8-10-2, 2-5 WAC)
Thursday, Nov. 2 at 5:30 p.m. Pacific
Reno, Nev.
Mackay Stadium
All-Time vs. the Hawai’i Rainbow Wahine:
Hawai’i has won six meetings between the two schools, but Nevada claimed a dominating 5-0 victory over Hawai’i on Oct. 27 for the Pack’s first win over the Rainbows in program history. In this season’s win, the Pack scored two goals in the first three minutes of the game and added three more to claim the 5-0 victory, handing Hawai’i its largest margin of defeat since the 1998 season. Over the past two seasons, Hawai’i is 5-12-2 in games away from their home field.
Scouting the Hawai’i Rainbow Wahine:
Hawai’i is 8-10-2 on the year and is 2-5 in the WAC. The Rainbow Wahine opened the conference season winning two of its first three games but dropped four straight to end the season. Over the past four seasons, Hawai’i has been knocked out of the conference tournament in its first match and the team has not won a tournament game since 2001. Last season, Hawai’i earned a first-round bye after finishing the regular season in first place, but the team was knocked out in its first game last season by eventual tournament champion Fresno State. The Rainbows are coached by Pinsoom Tenzing, who is in his 13th season as head coach. He has a career record of 109-119-20 with Hawai’i.
All-Time vs. the Utah State Aggies: (possible semifinal opponent)
Utah State holds a 4-2 advantage in the career series between the two schools. Nevada claimed a pair of one-goal home victories over the Aggies in 2004 and 2005 with scores of 1-0 and a 2-1 double overtime win respectively. The Aggies beat the Pack 2-0 this season in Logan.
Scouting the Utah State Aggies: (possible semifinal opponent)
Utah State finished the conference season unbeaten (5-0-2 WAC, 10-7-2 overall) and earned the tournament’s number two seed and a first-round bye. The Aggies were the tournament’s fourth seed last season and were eliminated in the first-round by eventual champion Fresno State. Utah State will take on the winner of the Nevada/Hawai’i match on Friday at 5:30 p.m.
WAC Tournament Information:
The University of Nevada and Mackay Stadium will play host to the 2006 Western Athletic Conference Tournament. The tournament will be held on Nov. 2-3 and 5 with the league's top six teams with the most points qualifying for the tournament. All times are Pacific.
WAC Soccer Tournament Schedule
Thursday, November 2
Quarterfinals
Match 1 - No. 4 San Jose State vs. No. 5 Boise State, 3:00 p.m.
Match 2 - No. 3 Nevada vs. No. 6 Hawaii, 5:30 p.m.
Friday, November 3
Semifinals
Match 3 - No. 1 Fresno State vs. Winner of Match 1, 3:00 p.m.
Match 4 - No. 2 Utah State vs. Winner of Match 2, 5:30 p.m.
Sunday, November 5
Championship Match
Match 5 - Winner of Match 3 vs. Winner of Match 4, 1:00 p.m.
Last Week's Results vs. Hawai’i and San Jose State:
Miranda Montejo scored the game-winning goal for Nevada in the second minute of the match as the Pack recorded a convincing 5-0 win over Hawai’i Friday night. Aivi Luik recorded two goals for Nevada while Karen Zmirak and Kenishia Warren each recorded one as the Pack recorded its first victory over Hawai’i in program history. Goalie Caitlin Holmes recorded her fourth shutout of the season and made one save in the win. As a team, the Pack held Hawai’i shotless until the 60th minute of the game. On Sunday the Pack claimed a 3-1 victory over the visiting San Jose State Spartans and earned a number three seed for this season’s conference tournament. Jessica Wilcox scored her first goal of the season off a header from Lauren Kinneman’s cross. SJSU evened things up in the 26th minute when Liz Behlen scored an unassisted goal. Devin Noe’s first career goal helped Nevada regain the lead in the 49th minute when she headed in Terran Hadlock’s free kick. The Pack added an insurance goal in the 78th minute when Kenishia Warren collected a pass in front of the goal from Blaine Dugan and beat Spartan keeper Marissa Dayton.
News and Notes:
The Pack ended the regular season with an 11-4-3 record, its best regular season overall mark in conference history...Nevada scored 20 goals during conference this season while only allowing six...Nevada has a 13-2-2 record at Mackay Stadium over the past two seasons...Three times this season the Pack recorded at least five goals in a match...The Pack’s win over San Jose State on Sunday gave the Pack 11 overall wins, marking the second time under third-season head coach Terri Patraw the team has recorded double-digit wins in a season...Nevada’s nine shutouts this season set a new single-season program high...Karen Zmirak set new program marks for most goals in a season (11) and points (26)...In overall games this season Nevada ranks first in shots (311), points (108), goals (37), assists (34) and corner kicks (113)...Karen Zmirak leads the conference in all games with 26 points and 11 goals while Samantha Miller ranks sixth with 14 points and Miranda Montejo is eighth with 12...Jessica Thompson is third in assists with five and Terran Hadlock, Zmirak and Miller are tied for fourth with four assists each...Caitlin Holmes is second in goals against average (0.56) and Jen Mavis is third with a 0.70 goals against average.
WAC Athlete of the Week:
Nevada has had four players named WAC Athlete of the Week, three defensive selections and one offensive selection. On Oct. 2 junior Jessica Wilcox was named WAC Defensive Player of the Week after helping Nevada record two shutouts against Northern Arizona and New Mexico. She anchored a defense that did not allow a goal at the UNM Classic. Wilcox also recorded an assist, her first of the season, in the victory over NAU. Senior Lauren Kinneman was named offensive player of the week for Sept. 25 after scoring the game-winning goal and recording the assist on the Pack's other goal as Nevada beat Pac-10 opponent Oregon 2-1 on the road. Kinneman's goal against Oregon was her first goal of the season and the seventh of her career. Sophomore Randee Robinson was awarded the honor for the week of Sept. 5 after she helped anchor a Nevada defense that recorded two shutouts over Wisconsin-Green Bay and Northern Iowa. The Wolf Pack defense allowed only nine shots in the two victories including two halves where Nevada held its opponents shotless. Freshman goalie, Caitlin Holmes, was named WAC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 11 after she made 11 saves in two matches as Nevada recorded a road victory at Washington State and a tie at Eastern Washington. The Wolf Pack defense allowed just two goals that weekend as Holmes posted a goals against average of 0.90 in the two victories.
