Mustangs Travel to Southern California to Battle Long Beach, Anteaters

Thursday, October 5

Long Beach, CA / George Allen Field

7 P.M.

Long Beach State

Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics

Mustangs Travel to Southern California to Battle Long Beach, Anteaters

10/4/2023 10:30:00 AM | Women's Soccer

WATCH — THURSDAY
LIVE STATS — THURSDAY
WATCH — SUNDAY
LIVE STATS — SUNDAY

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — The Cal Poly women's soccer team hits the road this week for a pair of pivotal Big West matches in Southern California.

Fresh off a commanding 3-1 home victory over UC Riverside this past Sunday, the Mustangs (4-5-2, 2-1-0 Big West) travel to Long Beach State (6-5-2, 1-2-1 BW) on Thursday for a 7 p.m. match and UC Irvine (4-4-3, 1-0-2 BW) on Sunday for a 2 p.m. showdown.

FOLLOW CAL POLY THIS WEEK: Both matches will be broadcast live on ESPN+. You can find links for live stats and both broadcasts above, and on the women's soccer schedule page on GoPoly.com. Follow Cal Poly women's soccer on X (@CPWomensSoccer) for live updates throughout both matches.

BIG WEST STANDINGS: Through three matches, Cal Poly currently sits in a three-way tie for second place in the conference table with UC Riverside (2-2 BW) and Cal State Fullerton (1-1-3 BW) as each team has 6 points. Hawai'i leads the Big West with 7 points (2-2-1 BW), while UC Irvine (5 points) is tied with four others for fifth in the conference and Long Beach (4 points) is tied with UC San Diego for last place. Every team has at least one Big West victory so far this season.

CAL POLY VERSUS THE BEACH: The Mustangs and LBSU had a pair of hard-fought battles last fall as the two teams played to a 1-1 draw in their regular season matchup in San Luis Obispo and then the Beach, the No. 4 seed in the conference tourney, edged out No. 1 Cal Poly 1-0 in the semifinals of the Big West Championships at Mustang Memorial Field Presented by French Hospital. Cal Poly outshot LBSU in both matchups. The Mustangs lead the all-time series 13-10-5.

SCOUTING THE BEACH: LBSU, picked to win the conference in the Preseason Big West Coaches' Poll, is riding a two-match losing streak entering Thursday's match, falling at UC Davis 1-0 and at Cal State Bakersfield 3-0 this past week. The Beach opened Big West play on Sept. 14 with a 1-1 home draw against UC Irvine and picked up their lone conference victory at home on Sept. 24 against UC Santa Barbara 4-1. LBSU owns a 4-1-2 record at George Allen Field this season, including earning a 3-2 win over then-No. 22 Harvard on Sept. 1. LBSU leads the Big West in goals (25), assists (31) and shots on goal (93) this season. Redshirt senior Elysia Laramie (eight goals, five assists) and sophomore Cherrie Cox (six goals, four assists) rank first and second in the conference in points. Cox, the 2022 Big West Freshman of the Year, was selected to the All-Big West Preseason Team.

CAL POLY VERSUS THE ANTEATERS: Last year, the Mustangs avenged their 2021 Big West Championship defeat to UC Irvine, earning a 2-0 regular season victory in San Luis Obispo and holding the Anteaters to just four shots. Cal Poly leads the all-time series 20-13-2 and is seeking its first win in Irvine since Oct. 17, 2014.

SCOUTING THE ANTEATERS: UC Irvine travels to Cal State Fullerton on Thursday before facing the Mustangs and is currently the only remaining unbeaten team (1-0-2) in Big West play. The Anteaters earned their first conference victory this past Sunday in Hawai'i 1-0 and secured draws against LBSU and UC Santa Barbara. Last season, UC Irvine snuck into the conference tournament as the No. 6 seed and made a run all the way to the Third Round of the NCAA Tournament, defeating Long Beach 3-0 in the Big West Championship, upsetting fourth-seeded USC 2-0 in the First Round of the NCAA tourney and falling to No. 1 overall seed Alabama 3-1 in the Third Round. Eight starters from that team are back this season including goalkeeper Glo Hinojosa, the 2022 Big West Championship MVP and 2021 Big West Goalkeeper of the Year. Hinojosa has started in net in all 11 matches, posting a 1.55 goals against average, a .679 save percentage and three shutouts — tied for second most in the Big West. Redshirt junior forward Alyssa Moore leads UC Irvine with 13 points this season (five goals, three assists) — tied for third most in the conference.

HAT TRICK QUEEN: Freshman forward Annika Smith had quite the day for the Mustangs this past Sunday, scoring all three goals in Cal Poly's victory to register the eighth hat trick in program history and become the first Mustang in nine years to accomplish the feat. The historic performance and a 7-point week on the pitch earned the Scottsdale, Ariz. native Big West Offensive Player of the Week and Big West Freshman of the Week honors. Smith is the second Mustang in program history to receive both awards in the same week (Emily Lieber, Aug. 29, 2022), and just the third in conference history. She leads the Mustangs in goals (four) and points (10) this season.

EVERYONE'S PITCHIN' IN: 15 Mustangs have recorded a point so far this season and 10 different players have scored a goal, including six for the first time in their collegiate careers — Smith, senior Georgia Weeks, junior Emily Nedom, sophomores Jessie Halladay and Caylie Button, and freshman Sophia Moness. Halladay, a transfer from Loyola Marymount, is second on the team in points (three goals, three assists), first in shots (18) and is tied with Smith for the team lead in shots on goal (10). Smith, Reedy, Nedom and Weeks have all netted game winners for the Mustangs this season.

PERFECTLY BALANCED: This fall, the Mustangs returned 15 letterwinners and four All-Big West honorees from their 2022 squad that secured the program's first outright Big West regular season title in nine years and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. However, the team also has 15 newcomers this season — 12 freshmen and three transfers — and 11 of them have seen action.

DON'T MESS WITH THE BACKLINE: Sophomore Camryn Penn and juniors Emma Brown and Aynsley Conner make up an experienced-laden backline for the Mustangs. Between the three of them, the trio boasts 109 career appearances and 102 starts. Brown, a 2022 All-Big West First Team selection, was named to the All-Big West Preseason Coaches Team and has played every minute in 41 of the 50 matches she has appeared in during her Cal Poly career. The two-time United Soccer Coaches All-West Region selection has played every minute in 10 matches this season, only get subbed off in the final 30 minutes in a loss to Gonzaga. Conner has started in 28 of the 30 matches she has appeared in, while Penn has recorded 27 starts over 29 appearances. Conner and Penn each have one assist this season. Olivia Ortiz, who spent her first four years as a Mustang at forward, has seen plenty of playing time at outside back this season and boasts 68 career appearances.

THE KEEPER: Junior Mackenize Samuel, the 2022 Big West Goalkeeper of the Year and an All-Big West First Team selection, has started every match in net for the Mustangs this season and currently ranks No. 10 all-time in career saves with 118.

FIRST APPEARANCES: Nine Mustangs have made their first collegiate appearance this fall — redshirt freshman Sophia Minnite, and freshmen Bailey Bracha, Jaycee DeFazio, Sophia Moness, Kasia Wolf, Siena Urzua, Anna Babinski, Tacey Bivin and Annika Smith.

UP NEXT: Cal Poly returns to Mustang Memorial Field next week for another two-match homestand, hosting Cal State Bakersfield on Thursday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m., and CSUN on Sunday, Oct. 15 at 2 p.m.