Thursday, November 4
Irvine, CA / Anteater Stadium
5 P.M.
vs
Cal State Fullerton
Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics
Cal Poly Faces Cal State Fullerton Thursday in Big West Tournament Semifinals
11/2/2021 2:03:00 PM | Women's Soccer
SAN LUIS OBISPO – Returning to the Big West Conference Tournament after a seven-year hiatus, the Cal Poly women's soccer program faces Cal State Fullerton in a Thursday, Nov. 4 semifinal matchup. Kickoff from UC Irvine's Anteater Stadium is 5 p.m. for Cal Poly (12-7-0), which split the Big West regular season title with UC Irvine (13-5-0) after each finished on 24 points in the final standings. By virtue of a 2-0 victory against Cal Poly during Sunday's final round of matches, UC Irvine earned the Big West Tournament's top seed and hosting rights. UC Irvine faces fourth-seeded UC Santa Barbara (8-8-3) in Thursday's second 7:30 p.m. semifinal. The two advancing programs from Thursday will meet in the Sunday, Nov. 7 championship match at 1 p.m. Selected to finish seventh in August's preseason coaches poll, second-seeded Cal Poly remains the Big West's second highest scoring program and ranked 45th among 335 NCAA Division I programs with 37 goals. Only UC Irvine, on 40, has scored more. Third-seeded Cal State Fullerton (10-9-0), which dropped the Sept. 23 regular season meeting to Cal Poly in overtime, 3-2, closed Big West play with six successive wins and has conceded just one goal since Oct. 7.
FOLLOW CAL POLY THIS WEEK: Zachary Anderson-Yoxsimer will provide play-by-play for Thursday's matchup versus Cal State Fullerton with Dan Gillman taking the call for a possible Sunday championship via GoPoly.com HERE … live stats and video of all Big West Tournament matches will be available via GoPoly.com HERE.
CAL POLY AT THE BIG WEST TOURNAMENT: The Mustangs have qualified for 11 of the previous 19 Big West Tournaments and captured the title in 1996, 2003 and 2004. Cal Poly has won seven of 11 semifinal matches, lost just once (2012) and never advanced to the final on penalties are drawing in 2008, 2013 and 2014.
GOING TO THE SPOT: Should any Big West Tournament game be drawn after 110 minutes, the advancing side will be determined by penalties. Cal Poly has never advanced to the final or captured the title through penalties after being thrice bested in the semifinals (2008, 2013-14) and twice in the championship (2007, 2009).
CAL POLY VERSUS CAL STATE FULLERTON: Cal Poly's 3-2, Big West-opening win against Cal State Fullerton (Sept. 23) – in which Mustang sophomore midfielder Camille Lafaix scored twice – improved the program's all-time record versus the Titans to 17-11-5. Cal Poly holds a 3-1-2 record against Cal State Fullerton at the Big West Tournament. Cal Poly eliminated Cal State Fullerton at the semifinal stage in 1996, 1997 and 2004. Cal State Fullerton, however, bested Cal Poly for the 2006 championship and outdueled the Mustangs on penalties in the 2007 title game and 2013 semifinal round.
WINS IN PERSPECTIVE: Cal Poly's 12-win total is the program's highest since finishing 14-5-1 in 2009.
POINTS OF PRIDE: Cal Poly's 24-point total in the final Big West standings matched a program record set in 1999 and equaled in 2002 (both nine-game schedules).
OFFENSE IN FOCUS: Featuring two of the Big West's top four goalscorers and two of its top six assist leaders, Cal Poly is the conference's second leading goal-scoring side and ranked 45th among 335 NCAA Division I sides with 37 – a total that ranks as the program's highest since scoring 43 times in 2003. Highlighted by a 5-0 victory against San Jose State (Sept. 12) and 4-2 win versus Sacramento State (Aug. 29), Cal Poly has scored multiple goals in game 10 times and been shutout just twice – including a 2-0, season-opening loss to No. 24 Stanford (Aug. 19). Cal Poly has received goals from 11 different players this season while 15 separate Mustangs have recorded at least a point.
TRUCCO SETS THE SCORING PACE … : The Big West's third leading scorer with 10 goals, sophomore forward Nikki Trucco also ranks third with three game-winning goals, fourth with 21 points 46 shot attempts. Trucco enters Thursday's match versus Cal State Fullerton having scored in four of Cal Poly's last six games. All four of those goals have come inside the opening 10 minutes, including an effort 30 seconds after kickoff versus UC San Diego that tied a 24-year-old program record for quickest goal. Averaging a goal every 134.2 minutes, Trucco has started 18 of 19 matches for Cal Poly in 2021.
… AND LAFAIX FOLLOWS: With all eight of her goals coming in Cal Poly's last 13 games, two-time Big West Offensive Player of the Week honoree and sophomore midfielder Camille Lafaix ranks fourth in the Big West in scoring. Also sixth in the Big West with 19 points, Lafaix produced her second career two-goal match in Cal Poly's 3-2 overtime win against Cal State Fullerton (Sept. 23) while also securing the game-winners in a 3-2 overtime victory versus UC San Diego (Oct. 17) and 2-1 triumph at UC Santa Barbara (Oct. 21). Lafaix, who has placed 23 of 35 shot attempts on target, has started in 18 of 19 matches this season while averaging a goal every 158.3 minutes.
ORTIZ AND RUBENSTEIN SET THE TABLE: With 10 of their 14 combined assists coming in Big West matches, junior Brooke Rubinstein co-leads the Big West and ranks 40th among NCAA Division I players with eight assists while fellow forward Olivia Ortiz ranks sixth in the Big West with six. Four of Rubinstein's eight assists have come in Cal Poly's last six matches, including a two-assist effort to fuel a 2-1 win at UC Santa Barbara (Oct. 21). All but one of Rubinstein's assists has occurred in victories. Ortiz, Cal Poly's fourth leading scorer with four goals – including the game-winner in a 1-0 victory at Long Beach State to hand the Mustangs a share of the Big West title – has produced all six of her assists in wins.
SUPER SUB: Cal Poly's third leading scorer with four goals alongside Olivia Ortiz, all of freshman Kate Reedy's strikes have come in reserve appearances with the midfielder finding the back of the net against Sacramento State (Aug. 29), the game-winner at Colorado College (Sept. 5), the second of a 3-0 victory versus UC Riverside (Sept. 26) and the final in a 3-0 home win against CSUN (Oct. 10). Reedy, with just 33.6 minutes per appearance, is averaging a goal every 159.5 minutes.
FOLLOW CAL POLY THIS WEEK: Zachary Anderson-Yoxsimer will provide play-by-play for Thursday's matchup versus Cal State Fullerton with Dan Gillman taking the call for a possible Sunday championship via GoPoly.com HERE … live stats and video of all Big West Tournament matches will be available via GoPoly.com HERE.
CAL POLY AT THE BIG WEST TOURNAMENT: The Mustangs have qualified for 11 of the previous 19 Big West Tournaments and captured the title in 1996, 2003 and 2004. Cal Poly has won seven of 11 semifinal matches, lost just once (2012) and never advanced to the final on penalties are drawing in 2008, 2013 and 2014.
GOING TO THE SPOT: Should any Big West Tournament game be drawn after 110 minutes, the advancing side will be determined by penalties. Cal Poly has never advanced to the final or captured the title through penalties after being thrice bested in the semifinals (2008, 2013-14) and twice in the championship (2007, 2009).
CAL POLY VERSUS CAL STATE FULLERTON: Cal Poly's 3-2, Big West-opening win against Cal State Fullerton (Sept. 23) – in which Mustang sophomore midfielder Camille Lafaix scored twice – improved the program's all-time record versus the Titans to 17-11-5. Cal Poly holds a 3-1-2 record against Cal State Fullerton at the Big West Tournament. Cal Poly eliminated Cal State Fullerton at the semifinal stage in 1996, 1997 and 2004. Cal State Fullerton, however, bested Cal Poly for the 2006 championship and outdueled the Mustangs on penalties in the 2007 title game and 2013 semifinal round.
WINS IN PERSPECTIVE: Cal Poly's 12-win total is the program's highest since finishing 14-5-1 in 2009.
POINTS OF PRIDE: Cal Poly's 24-point total in the final Big West standings matched a program record set in 1999 and equaled in 2002 (both nine-game schedules).
OFFENSE IN FOCUS: Featuring two of the Big West's top four goalscorers and two of its top six assist leaders, Cal Poly is the conference's second leading goal-scoring side and ranked 45th among 335 NCAA Division I sides with 37 – a total that ranks as the program's highest since scoring 43 times in 2003. Highlighted by a 5-0 victory against San Jose State (Sept. 12) and 4-2 win versus Sacramento State (Aug. 29), Cal Poly has scored multiple goals in game 10 times and been shutout just twice – including a 2-0, season-opening loss to No. 24 Stanford (Aug. 19). Cal Poly has received goals from 11 different players this season while 15 separate Mustangs have recorded at least a point.
TRUCCO SETS THE SCORING PACE … : The Big West's third leading scorer with 10 goals, sophomore forward Nikki Trucco also ranks third with three game-winning goals, fourth with 21 points 46 shot attempts. Trucco enters Thursday's match versus Cal State Fullerton having scored in four of Cal Poly's last six games. All four of those goals have come inside the opening 10 minutes, including an effort 30 seconds after kickoff versus UC San Diego that tied a 24-year-old program record for quickest goal. Averaging a goal every 134.2 minutes, Trucco has started 18 of 19 matches for Cal Poly in 2021.
… AND LAFAIX FOLLOWS: With all eight of her goals coming in Cal Poly's last 13 games, two-time Big West Offensive Player of the Week honoree and sophomore midfielder Camille Lafaix ranks fourth in the Big West in scoring. Also sixth in the Big West with 19 points, Lafaix produced her second career two-goal match in Cal Poly's 3-2 overtime win against Cal State Fullerton (Sept. 23) while also securing the game-winners in a 3-2 overtime victory versus UC San Diego (Oct. 17) and 2-1 triumph at UC Santa Barbara (Oct. 21). Lafaix, who has placed 23 of 35 shot attempts on target, has started in 18 of 19 matches this season while averaging a goal every 158.3 minutes.
ORTIZ AND RUBENSTEIN SET THE TABLE: With 10 of their 14 combined assists coming in Big West matches, junior Brooke Rubinstein co-leads the Big West and ranks 40th among NCAA Division I players with eight assists while fellow forward Olivia Ortiz ranks sixth in the Big West with six. Four of Rubinstein's eight assists have come in Cal Poly's last six matches, including a two-assist effort to fuel a 2-1 win at UC Santa Barbara (Oct. 21). All but one of Rubinstein's assists has occurred in victories. Ortiz, Cal Poly's fourth leading scorer with four goals – including the game-winner in a 1-0 victory at Long Beach State to hand the Mustangs a share of the Big West title – has produced all six of her assists in wins.
SUPER SUB: Cal Poly's third leading scorer with four goals alongside Olivia Ortiz, all of freshman Kate Reedy's strikes have come in reserve appearances with the midfielder finding the back of the net against Sacramento State (Aug. 29), the game-winner at Colorado College (Sept. 5), the second of a 3-0 victory versus UC Riverside (Sept. 26) and the final in a 3-0 home win against CSUN (Oct. 10). Reedy, with just 33.6 minutes per appearance, is averaging a goal every 159.5 minutes.
Players Mentioned
M
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
M
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's SoccerCal Poly vs. UC Riverside, Women's Soccer Highlights -- Oct 23rd, 2025
Friday, October 24
Cal Poly vs. Cal State Fullerton, Women's Soccer Highlights -- Oct 12th, 2025
Sunday, October 12
Cal Poly vs. UC San Diego, Women's Soccer Highlights -- Sep 25th, 2025
Friday, September 26
A Sit-down Interview with New Cal Poly Women's Soccer Head Coach Bernardo Silva
Tuesday, January 21
