Cal Poly Faces UC Irvine Sunday in Big West Tournament Title Game

Sunday, November 7

Irvine, CA / Anteater Stadium

1 P.M.

UC Irvine

Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics

Cal Poly Faces UC Irvine Sunday in Big West Tournament Title Game

11/5/2021 1:38:00 PM | Women's Soccer

SAN LUIS OBISPO – Back in the Big West Conference Tournament championship match for the first time in 12 years, the Cal Poly women's soccer program seeks both its first title and NCAA Tournament berth since 2004 when facing host and top-seeded UC Irvine on Sunday, Nov. 7. Kickoff from Anteater Stadium is 1 p.m. for second-seeded Cal Poly (13-7-0), which advanced to the final after eliminating Cal State Fullerton in Thursday's semifinal round, 2-0. UC Irvine (14-5-0), meanwhile, reached its first final since 2016 after edging UC Santa Barbara in Thursday's second semifinal, 1-0. Sunday's champion receives the Big West's automatic invitation for the NCAA Tournament. UC Irvine closed the regular season with a 2-0 home win against Cal Poly (Oct. 31) – a decision that split the regular season title after both programs finished with 24 points in the standings and identical 8-2-0 conference marks. Selected to finish seventh in August's preseason coaches poll, Cal Poly remains the Big West's second highest scoring program and ranked 40th among 335 NCAA Division I programs with 39 goals. Only UC Irvine, on 41, has scored more.

FOLLOW CAL POLY THIS WEEK: Dan Gillman will provide play-by-play from Sunday's championship for GoPoly.com HERE, beginning at 12:45 p.m. … live stats and streaming video of the title game will also be available via GoPoly.com HERE.

LOOKING AHEAD: The selection show for the 64-team NCAA Tournament is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 8 at 1:30 p.m. PT on NCAA.com. First round matches are scheduled for Nov. 12-14 at campus sites.

CAL POLY AT THE BIG WEST TOURNAMENT: The Mustangs have qualified for 12 of the 20 Big West Tournaments and captured the title in 1996, 2003 and 2004. With an 8-1-3 record in semifinal matchups, Cal Poly holds a 3-2-2 mark in championship games. Cal Poly's last championship appearance occurred in 2009 with the Mustangs drawing at UC Santa Barbara, 1-1, before the Gauchos prevailed on penalties, 5-4. Cal Poly's last three title game appearances have each finished without a trophy. In 2007, Cal Poly produced a scoreless draw with Cal State Fullerton before the Titans claimed the title on penalties, 4-3. Cal State Fullerton topped Cal Poly in the 2006 final, 2-1. Cal Poly's last Big West Tournament title came in 2004 with the Mustangs defeating UC Santa Barbara, 2-0.

GOING TO THE SPOT: Should Sunday's Big West Tournament final be drawn after 110 minutes, the conference's automatic NCAA Tournament bid 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 UC IRVINE: Including a 2-0 defeat to close the regular season on Oct. 31, Cal Poly has won just one of its previous five matchups with the Anteaters. The Mustangs also seek their first road win against UC Irvine since a 2-1 victory on Oct. 17, 2014. Cal Poly leads the all-time series, 19-12-2.

CAL POLY VERSUS UC IRVINE AT THE BIG WEST TOURNAMENT: The Mustangs and Anteaters have met four previous times at the Big West Tournament, but not since Cal Poly eliminated UC Irvine from the 2009 semifinals, 2-0. The only championship match appearance between the two sides occurred in 1997 with UC Irvine edging Cal Poly in overtime, 3-2.

WINS IN PERSPECTIVE: Cal Poly's 13-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 40th among 335 NCAA Division I sides with 39 – 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 and All-Big West second team selection Nikki Trucco also ranks third with three game-winning goals and fourth with 21 points 47 shot attempts. Trucco enters Sunday's match versus UC Irvine having scored in four of Cal Poly's last seven 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 138.7 minutes, Trucco has started 19 of 20 matches for Cal Poly in 2021.

… AND LAFAIX FOLLOWS: With all eight of her goals coming in Cal Poly's last 14 games, Big West Midfielder of the Year selection and sophomore 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 36 shot attempts on target, has started in 19 of 20 matches this season.

ORTIZ, RUBENSTEIN ADD THE SCORING SUPPORT: With 10 of their 14 combined assists coming in Big West matches, junior Brooke Rubinstein co-leads the Big West and ranks 45th 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 seven 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 third leading scorer with five goals, has produced all six of her assists in wins. Ortiz's two game-winning goals have come in a 1-0 victory at Long Beach State (Oct. 28) to help Cal Poly clinch a share of the regular season title and a 2-0 triumph versus Cal State Fullerton (Nov. 4) to send the Mustangs into the Big West Tournament championship.

SAMUEL IN FRAME: Inserted into Cal Poly's lineup for the first time in a 3-0 home win against CSU Bakersfield (Oct. 7), freshman goalkeeper Mackenzie Samuel has recorded four shutouts in seven collegiate appearances and conceded just five goals in 638 minutes. Earning All-Big West second team praise after just six appearances, Samuel takes a 0.71 goals against average into Sunday's championship game.

SUPER SUB: Cal Poly's fourth leading scorer with four goals, 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 33.9 minutes per appearance, is averaging a goal every 169 minutes.