Thursday, October 27
La Jolla, CA / Triton Soccer Stadium
7 P.M.
9-6-3, 6-1-3
1
at
0
UC San Diego
3-10-6, 2-4-4
1
2
F
Cal Poly
0
1
1
UC San Diego
0
0
0
Team Stats
CP
UCSD
Goals
1
0
Shots
22
6
Shots on Goal
10
2
Saves
2
9
Corners
5
6
Fouls
5
6
Scoring Plays
Olivia Ortiz (3)
Assisted By: Camryn Penn
GOAL by CP Ortiz, Olivia Assist by Penn, Camryn.
52:47
Game Leaders
Players
Shots
1
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
3
SOG
2
Goals
0
Assists
1
Shots
5
SOG
2
Goals
0
Assists
0
Shots
4
SOG
2
Goals
0
Assists
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Soccer
M
/ Women's Soccer
M
/ Women's SoccerF
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's SoccerD/MF
/ Women's Soccer
GK
/ Women's Soccer
Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics
Mustangs Claim Big West Regular Season Title, No. 1 Seed
10/27/2022 10:45:00 PM | Women's Soccer
LA JOLLA, Calif. — Cal Poly women's soccer claimed its first outright Big West regular season championship since 2013 and secured the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament with a 1-0 victory at UC San Diego on Thursday night.
The result by the Mustangs (9-6-3 overall) coupled with a 1-0 victory by UC Davis at Long Beach State allowed Cal Poly to finish atop the conference table with 21 points (6-1-3 BW). As the top seed, the Mustangs earned the right to host the semifinals and final of The Big West Championships next week at Mustang Memorial Field Presented by Dignity Health.
The road to the Big West title and a bid to the NCAA Tournament runs through San Luis Obispo.
"It's huge," head coach Alex Crozier said about Thursday's victory. "Winning the title outright is fantastic and just the fact that we're home and we don't have to travel is great."
This is the second straight year Cal Poly has earned at least a share of the conference regular season title.
Following last Thursday's agonizing 1-1 home draw against Long Beach State, the Mustangs knew they were going to need some help from other Big West foes to finish atop the conference standings. After that match, Cal Poly kept pushing and controlled what they could control in their final two games of the season, and in the end, it all worked out in the Mustangs' favor. Crozier is proud of the resiliency his team showed.
"We recovered [from the match against LBSU] and we had a good game against UC Irvine on Sunday," he said, "and sometimes things just come clean in the wash, and we felt like that's what happened. We took care of what we needed to, and I didn't know the UC Davis result until there was 30 seconds left in our match, so it was pretty exciting at the end. Our team did a good job of just cutting all that other stuff out and just focusing on the game at hand."
A strike from senior forward Olivia Ortiz (pictured above) in the 53rd minute was the difference for the Mustangs on Thursday. From about 30 yards out, Ortiz sent a ball into the box that bounced and just missed the head of senior midfielder Camille Lafaix in front before finding its way past the UC San Diego goalkeeper. It was Ortiz's third goal of the season and ninth of her career.
After a scoreless first half, the Mustangs started the second half on the front foot and nearly found the back of the net a handful of times prior to Ortiz's game-winning goal. Freshman forward Caylie Button sent a shot just over the crossbar in the 49th minute and a less than a minute later fired a blast at the Tritons' keeper to earn a corner.
Following the corner, freshman defender Camryn Penn rang one off the right post and then freshman forward Emily Lieber blasted one off the crossbar.
Cal Poly controlled possession the rest of the second half and continued to pressure the UC San Diego backline. The Mustangs finished the match with a 22-6 shot advantage.
In the first half, senior forward Monserrat Hernandez Marquez, who leads the Mustangs in shots this season, was aggressive, registering dangerous shots on goal in the 19th and 28th minute.
Lafaix and Lieber also earned shots on goal in the opening half and in the 43rd minute, a blast outside the box from Button sailed just wide of the left post.
Sophomore goalkeeper Mackenzie Samuel grabbed two saves to secure her ninth clean sheet of the season, tying her with two other Cal Poly keepers for the third most shutouts in a single season in program history. It was also the Mustangs' 10th shutout of the season.
Cal Poly will face the winner of Sunday's first round match between No. 4 Long Beach State and No. 5 UC Santa Barbara in the semifinals of The Big West Championships on Thursday, Nov. 3, at 7 p.m. at Mustang Memorial Field. No. 2 seed UC Davis will take on No. 3 Cal State Fullerton or No. 6 UC Irvine in the other semifinal at 4 p.m. that day. The championship match is set for Sunday, Nov. 6 at 1 p.m.
This is the first time since 2014 that the Mustangs are hosting the conference tournament.
Tickets to the matches can be purchased here.
The result by the Mustangs (9-6-3 overall) coupled with a 1-0 victory by UC Davis at Long Beach State allowed Cal Poly to finish atop the conference table with 21 points (6-1-3 BW). As the top seed, the Mustangs earned the right to host the semifinals and final of The Big West Championships next week at Mustang Memorial Field Presented by Dignity Health.
The road to the Big West title and a bid to the NCAA Tournament runs through San Luis Obispo.
"It's huge," head coach Alex Crozier said about Thursday's victory. "Winning the title outright is fantastic and just the fact that we're home and we don't have to travel is great."
This is the second straight year Cal Poly has earned at least a share of the conference regular season title.
Following last Thursday's agonizing 1-1 home draw against Long Beach State, the Mustangs knew they were going to need some help from other Big West foes to finish atop the conference standings. After that match, Cal Poly kept pushing and controlled what they could control in their final two games of the season, and in the end, it all worked out in the Mustangs' favor. Crozier is proud of the resiliency his team showed.
"We recovered [from the match against LBSU] and we had a good game against UC Irvine on Sunday," he said, "and sometimes things just come clean in the wash, and we felt like that's what happened. We took care of what we needed to, and I didn't know the UC Davis result until there was 30 seconds left in our match, so it was pretty exciting at the end. Our team did a good job of just cutting all that other stuff out and just focusing on the game at hand."
A strike from senior forward Olivia Ortiz (pictured above) in the 53rd minute was the difference for the Mustangs on Thursday. From about 30 yards out, Ortiz sent a ball into the box that bounced and just missed the head of senior midfielder Camille Lafaix in front before finding its way past the UC San Diego goalkeeper. It was Ortiz's third goal of the season and ninth of her career.
After a scoreless first half, the Mustangs started the second half on the front foot and nearly found the back of the net a handful of times prior to Ortiz's game-winning goal. Freshman forward Caylie Button sent a shot just over the crossbar in the 49th minute and a less than a minute later fired a blast at the Tritons' keeper to earn a corner.
Following the corner, freshman defender Camryn Penn rang one off the right post and then freshman forward Emily Lieber blasted one off the crossbar.
Cal Poly controlled possession the rest of the second half and continued to pressure the UC San Diego backline. The Mustangs finished the match with a 22-6 shot advantage.
In the first half, senior forward Monserrat Hernandez Marquez, who leads the Mustangs in shots this season, was aggressive, registering dangerous shots on goal in the 19th and 28th minute.
Lafaix and Lieber also earned shots on goal in the opening half and in the 43rd minute, a blast outside the box from Button sailed just wide of the left post.
Sophomore goalkeeper Mackenzie Samuel grabbed two saves to secure her ninth clean sheet of the season, tying her with two other Cal Poly keepers for the third most shutouts in a single season in program history. It was also the Mustangs' 10th shutout of the season.
Cal Poly will face the winner of Sunday's first round match between No. 4 Long Beach State and No. 5 UC Santa Barbara in the semifinals of The Big West Championships on Thursday, Nov. 3, at 7 p.m. at Mustang Memorial Field. No. 2 seed UC Davis will take on No. 3 Cal State Fullerton or No. 6 UC Irvine in the other semifinal at 4 p.m. that day. The championship match is set for Sunday, Nov. 6 at 1 p.m.
This is the first time since 2014 that the Mustangs are hosting the conference tournament.
Tickets to the matches can be purchased here.
A Sit-down Interview with New Cal Poly Women's Soccer Head Coach Bernardo Silva
Tuesday, January 21
The Origin Story of Cal Poly Women's Soccer and Alex Crozier
Thursday, December 19
Thank You, Coach Crozier
Wednesday, October 30
Cal Poly vs. Hawai'i, Women's Soccer Highlights -- Oct. 24th, 2024
Friday, October 25
