2021 WAC women's soccer tournament
The 2021 Western Athletic Conference women's soccer tournament was the postseason women's soccer tournament for the Western Athletic Conference held from November 3 to November 7, 2021. The five-match tournament took place at Elmer Gray Stadium in Abilene, TX on the campus of Abilene Christian University. The six-team single-elimination tournament consisted of three rounds based on seeding from regular-season divisional conference play. The defending champions were the Utah Valley Wolverines.[1] Utah Valley was unable to defend their crown, falling 3–0 against Grand Canyon in the final.[2] This was Grand Caynon's first WAC Tournament victory in program history as well as the first victory for head coach Chris Cissell.[3] As tournament champions, Grand Canyon earned the WAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
| 2021 WAC women's soccer tournament | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classification | Division I | ||||
| Teams | 6 | ||||
| Matches | 5 | ||||
| Site | Elmer Gray Stadium Abilene, TX | ||||
| Champions | Grand Canyon (1st title) | ||||
| Winning coach | Chris Cissell (1st title) | ||||
| MVP | Lindsey Prokop (Grand Canyon) | ||||
| Broadcast | ESPN+ | ||||
| |||||
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | W | L | T | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Southwest | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stephen F. Austin † | 8 | – | 2 | – | 0 | .800 | 10 | – | 8 | – | 1 | .553 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lamar | 6 | – | 2 | – | 2 | .700 | 10 | – | 8 | – | 2 | .550 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sam Houston State | 6 | – | 4 | – | 0 | .600 | 8 | – | 10 | – | 0 | .444 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abilene Christian | 4 | – | 5 | – | 1 | .450 | 6 | – | 9 | – | 1 | .406 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas–Rio Grande Valley | 2 | – | 7 | – | 1 | .250 | 6 | – | 12 | – | 2 | .350 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chicago State | 2 | – | 8 | – | 0 | .200 | 2 | – | 14 | – | 1 | .147 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| West | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grand Canyon †‡y | 7 | – | 1 | – | 2 | .800 | 16 | – | 4 | – | 2 | .773 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah Valley | 6 | – | 2 | – | 2 | .700 | 13 | – | 7 | – | 2 | .636 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Mexico State | 5 | – | 5 | – | 0 | .500 | 9 | – | 11 | – | 0 | .450 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| California Baptist* | 4 | – | 4 | – | 2 | .500 | 6 | – | 8 | – | 3 | .441 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dixie State* | 2 | – | 7 | – | 1 | .250 | 6 | – | 13 | – | 1 | .325 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Seattle | 1 | – | 6 | – | 3 | .250 | 7 | – | 8 | – | 4 | .474 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| * ineligible for the 2021 NCAA Tournament due to transition from Division II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † – Conference champion ‡ – 2021 WAC Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of December 7, 2021 Rankings from United Soccer Coaches Poll Source:WAC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Seeding
The top three teams from each division qualified for the 2021 Tournament. Teams were seeded based on regular season conference records and the top seed from each conference earned a bye into the semifinal round. No tiebreakers were required as each of the top three teams in each conference finished with unique conference records.[4]
| Finish | Team | Conference Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stephen F. Austin | 8–2–0 |
| 2 | Lamar | 6–2–2 |
| 3 | Sam Houston State | 6–4–0 |
| Finish | Team | Conference Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grand Canyon | 7–1–2 |
| 2 | Utah Valley | 6–2–2 |
| 3 | New Mexico State | 5–5–0 |
Bracket
Source:[5]
| First round Wednesday, Nov. 3 | Semifinals Friday, Nov. 5 | Final Sunday, Nov. 7 | ||||||||||||
| W 1 | Grand Canyon | 2 | ||||||||||||
| SW 2 | Lamar | 1 | SW 2 | Lamar | 1 | |||||||||
| W 3 | New Mexico State | 0 | W 1 | Grand Canyon | 3 | |||||||||
| W 2 | Utah Valley | 0 | ||||||||||||
| SW 1 | Stephen F. Austin | 0 | ||||||||||||
| W 2 | Utah Valley | 6 | W 2 | Utah Valley | 1 | |||||||||
| SW 3 | Sam Houston | 1 | ||||||||||||
Matches
First round
| November 3 | SW #2 Lamar | 1–0 | W #3 New Mexico State | Abilene, TX |
| 4:00 p.m. |
|
Report | Stadium: Elmer Gray Stadium Referee: Chris Greer Assistant referees: Joel Mckell Hans Soland Fourth official: Aaron Donahoe |
| November 3 | W #2 Utah Valley | 6–1 | SW #3 Sam Houston | Abilene, TX |
| 7:00 p.m. |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Elmer Gray Stadium Attendance: 58 Referee: Matthew Buckman Assistant referees: Tony Obas Habeeb Hooshmand Fourth official: Gloria Martinez Resendiz |
Semifinals
| November 5 Semifinal 1 | Grand Canyon | 2–1 | Lamar | Abilene, TX |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Elmer Gray Stadium |
| November 5 Semifinal 2 | Stephen F. Austin | 0–1 | Utah Valley | Abilene, TX |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Elmer Gray Stadium |
Final
| November 7 | Grand Canyon | 3–0 | Utah Valley | Abilene, TX |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Elmer Gray Stadium |
Statistics
There were 15 goals scored in 5 matches, for an average of 3 goals per match.
2 goals
Lindsey Prokop – Grand Canyon- Sadie Brockbank – Utah Valley
1 goal
- Dani Babb – Grand Canyon
- Camryn Larson – Grand Canyon
Marleen Schimmer – Grand Canyon
Eva Karen – Lamar
Laura Linares – Lamar- Summer Knox – Sam Houston State
- Manthy Brady – Utah Valley
- Breanna Eves – Utah Valley
- Katie Haskins – Utah Valley
- Nicole Olanda – Utah Valley
- Amber Tripp – Utah Valley
All-Tournament team
Source:[6]
| Player | Team |
|---|---|
| Sadie Brockbank | Utah Valley |
| Breanna Eves | |
| Amber Tripp | |
| Eva Karen | Lamar |
| Nicole Panis | |
| Dani Babb | Grand Canyon |
| Hannah Edwards | |
| Jordan Ferguson | |
| Camryn Larson | |
| Marleen Schimmer | |
| Lindsey Prokop |
MVP in bold
References
- Western Athletic Conference. "2020-21 WAC Women's Soccer Tournament". Retrieved October 31, 2021.
- Western Athletic Conference. "2021 WAC Women's Soccer Tournament". Retrieved October 31, 2021.
- Western Athletic Conference. "2021 Women's Soccer Record Book" (PDF). Retrieved January 19, 2022.
- "WAC Announces Bracket for 2021-22 Women's Soccer Tournament". wacsports.com. Western Athletic Conference. October 31, 2021. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
- "2021 WAC Women's Soccer Tournament". wacsports.com. Western Athletic Conference. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
- "2021 WAC All-Tournament team Women's Soccer". Western Athletic Conference. Retrieved November 9, 2021.