KANSAS CITY - (Nov. 3) Seattle University women’s soccer travels to UMKC for the 2016 WAC Championship this weekend. The Redhawks are the tournament’s top seed following their 7-0 WAC regular season. SU will face the winner of Thursday’s Utah Valley/New Mexico State game on Friday, Nov. 4, at 2 p.m.
FOLLOW THE REDHAWKS
Friday, Nov. 4 vs. Utah Valley/New Mexico State - 2:00 p.m. (Durwood Stadium)
Watch on the WAC Digital Network
ABOUT THE REDHAWKS (12-5-1, 7-0-0 WAC)
• Brie Hooks and Stephanie Spiekerman won WAC Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively, at the awards banquet Wednesday. The pair was joined on the All-WAC First Team by Karli White and Natasha Howe. Rosalie Sittauer earned All-WAC Second Team honors. SU had a WAC-high five players recognized by the league.
• Seattle U won, 3-1, at Utah Valley on Oct. 28 to close out the regular season. Howe, a senior, recorded a hat trick as SU extended its WAC regular season unbeaten streak to 24 matches.
• Howe earned WAC Offensive Player of the Week honors following her performance. She now has six goals this season and is the first Redhawk to tally a hat trick since Stephanie Verdoia achieved the feat on Oct. 14, 2012.
• The Redhawks are unbeaten in 23 consecutive WAC regular-season games dating back to a 5-1 win over CSUB on Oct. 12, 2014. They are 20-0-3 during the stretch. The streak is the longest in WAC history, passing SMU’s 22-match stretch from 1999-2002. SU has also won 14 straight WAC regular season outings, one short of the all-time WAC record. Seattle U holds that record with a 15-match win streak from 2012-14. Coach Julie Woodward’s squad has one loss in its last 39 WAC regular season contests.
• Seattle U clinched its fourth straight WAC regular season crown with victories over UMKC (3-1 on Oct. 20) and Chicago State (3-0 on Oct. 22).
• Spiekerman earned WAC Defensive Player of the Week recognition following her performances in two Redhawk wins Oct. 17-23. The junior anchored the SU defense as it allowed one goal in two home victories.
• Seattle U is fourth in the latest NSCAA West Region Rankings, its highest slotting of the year. The Redhawks jumped from fifth in the previous rankings. The spot is also the highest of any WAC team during the 2016 campaign.
• Mackenzie Curry has started each of the last five matches in net, surrendering just three goals while notching five wins. She is 8-0-0 this season with one solo shutout. The freshman has posted a 0.63 GAA.
• Hooks has scored seven goals for the Redhawks, tallying a team-high 16 points this year.
• Hooks has four game-winning goals this year, which leads all WAC players.
• The Redhawks began this season as the co-favorite to finish atop the Western Athletic Conference standings in a preseason vote of the league’s eight head coaches.
• Three players were also named to the 11-member Preseason All-WAC Team, including sophomore forward Kari White, redshirt sophomore midfielder Isabelle Butterfield and junior defender Stephanie Spiekerman.
• Seattle U went 14-3-3 overall and 8-0-2 in WAC play in 2015, claiming the 2015 regular-season title before falling to UVU in the championship match of the WAC Tournament.
• The Redhawks return six starters from last year’s squad, along with a pair of key players from the 2014 lineup who redshirted last fall and senior transfer Brie Hooks who was the University of Colorado Female Athlete of the Year and an All-Pac-12 Second Team selection in 2014.
ABOUT THE WOLVERINES (9-7-2, 3-3-1 WAC)
Utah Valley is 3-1-1 in its last four matches, with SU having won, 3-1, at UVU last weekend. The Wolverines are tenth in this week’s NSCAA West Region Rankings. They won the 2015 WAC Championship, defeating SU in the title match.
SERIES HISTORY VS UVU
Seattle U is 11-1-1 all-time against the Wolverines, including a pair of wins this season. SU won the first eight meetings between the programs. Utah Valley recorded a 2-0 win in the WAC Championship last season, advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the first time.
ABOUT THE AGGIES (5-12-2, 2-3-2 WAC)
New Mexico State is coming off a 1-0 win over UTRGV last weekend, snapping a four-match winless streak for the Aggies. Aileen Galicia scored the game’s lone goal in the 84th minute, pushing New Mexico State up to the fifth seed and dropping the Vaqueros to sixth in this week’s tournament.
SERIES HISTORY VS NM STATE
Seattle U is a perfect 7-0-0 all-time against the Aggies. The Redhawks took a 2-1 decision at New Mexico State last month. Ayana Robles and Rosalie Sittauer each scored in the road victory.