Sept. 22, 1998
By Vicki Boillot
Western Athletic Conference
PACIFIC division player of the week: Brigham Young Forward Maren Hendershot,a 5-8 junior from Colorado Springs, Colo. (Doherty HS), helped guide BYU toa 2-0 record on the week with victories over New Mexico, 4-1, and IdahoState, 3-0. Against UNM, Hendershot scored the first hat trick of hercareer. Hendershot contributed to all four Cougar goals against the Lobos.In the fourth minute, she provided the assist on Shauna Rohbocks goal thatup BYU up 1-0. She added her own goals in the 10th, 26th and 73rd minutes.For the season, Hendershot leads the team with 18 points (eight goals andtwo assists).
In the Pacific Division, others nominated included: Tricia Nishikawa,Hawaii; Breanna Seaton, UNLV: Lori LaCoursiere, San Diego State and StaciBurt, Utah.
MOUNTAIN division player of the week: Wyoming goalkeeper Amanda Vandervort,a 5-7 sophomore from Tucson, Ariz. (Sabino HS), allowed only one goal in 180minutes as the Cowgirls defeated Wright State, 3-0, and lost to Pacific,1-0. In the two games, she made 18 saves and recorded her second shutout ofthe season. Vandervort has improved her play dramatically in goal thisseason. Through six games, she has a goals-against average of 1.167. Shefinished the 1997 season with a gaa of 3.649. She has been key to the UWdefense giving up only seven goals through six games this season, comparedto 26 at this time last year.
From the Mountain Division, additional nominees included: Becky Wyfells,Air Force; Jamie Campanaro, SMU; Janet Esparza, UTEP and Paige Mayer,Tulsa.
FAST TRACK: Brigham Young and Hawaii remained undefeated as each picked upa pair of wins last week. The Cougars improved to 6-0-0, while the RainbowWahine are 5-0-0. With five wins, UH is only two wins away from its 1997win total. The win column has not only been better for the Rainbow Wahine,so has the offense and defense. Hawaii ranked eighth last season with agoals-against average of 1.900, but are first this year with a gaa of 0.400.Its team defense is eighth best in the nation. On the offensive end, theRainbow Wahine have already accumulated more than half the points theyscored in 1997 as they have 37 in five games thus far, compared to 60 pointsin 20 games last year. BYU has stayed right on pace from a year ago. TheCougars are averaging 3.33 goals per game after averaging 2.8 in 1997.Cougar junior Maren Hendershot ranks first in the WAC in scoring with 18points. She is only five points away from tying her 1997 season total. Forgoals, Hendershot has already scored eight, two more than a year ago.Nationally, she ranks fifth in points per game (3.00) and second in goalsper game (1.33).
WAC SAVES: After dropping a 3-1 decision to Cal Poly SLO on Sept. 11, SanDiego State has won its last two to improve its season mark to 5-1-0 ... theAztecs fell out of the national polls following to loss to CPSLO butreappear this week ... SDSU is halfway to equalling its win total from 1997when it went 10-6-1 ... Air Force collected its second win of the seasonwith a 2-0 home victory over Wright State ... sophomore midfielder BeckyWyfells has been a bright spot for the Falcons ... she leads the team withseven points (three goals, one assist), including four last week .... SMUfaces the third of the six ranked opponent it has on the schedule this year... the Mustangs travels to No. 10 Texas A&M for a Sept. 25 contest ... SMUhas a road record of 2-0 this season and a 10-game road unbeaten streak thatdates back to 1996 ... UTEP extended its win streak to nine with a win overWisconsin-Green Bay, 5-1, at the Creighton Tournament, but had the streakcome to a halt with a 2-1 loss to host Creighton ... despite the loss, theMiners are 6-1-0 and continue to lead the WAC Mountain Division ... JanetEsparza led the Miners with a pair of goals and an assist in the twocontests ... Tulsa went 1-1 at the Missouri Nike Invitational after losing2-1 to Cal Poly SLO and defeating Kentucky 1-0 ... senior midfielder PaigeMayer earned all-tournament honors following her game-winning goal againstKentucky ... the goal was Mayers first of the season ... UNLV, a program inits first year of existence, continues to fill the win column as it defeatedBoise State, 2-1, and Idaho State, 1-0, to improve to 5-2 ... the Rebelsonly losses were a 2-1 decision at Pepperdine, to open the season, and atCal State Northridge, 3-2, on Sept. 16 ... UNLV has 29 points on the season,to rank eighth in the WAC, and a 1.143 gaa, which ranks fourth.
AMONG THE BEST: BYU and San Diego State remained among the nations ranked.The Cougars remained steady at 14th in the National Soccer CoachesAssociation of America rankings and 17th in the Soccer America poll. TheAztecs moved up from 21st to 16th in the NSCAA rankings and reappeared inthe Soccer America Top 20 at 20th.