Cal Poly Set to Battle Anteaters for Big West Championship

Sunday, November 5

Fullerton, CA / Titan Stadium

1 P.M.

No. 5 UC Irvine

Kate Reedy, shot, Hawai'i, Big West Championship First Round, 102923

Photo by: Eyasu Betwos

Cal Poly Set to Battle Anteaters for Big West Championship

11/4/2023 3:30:00 PM | Women's Soccer

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FULLERTON, Calif. — A Big West Championship and a bid to the NCAA Tournament will be up for grabs when the third-seeded Cal Poly women's soccer team battles fifth-seeded UC Irvine in the Big West Championship match at 1 p.m. Sunday at Cal State Fullerton's Titan Stadium.

The Mustangs (10-7-3) secured their spot in the Big West Championship with a 2-1 semifinal victory over second-seeded UC Davis (10-7-2) on Thursday in Fullerton.

FOLLOW CAL POLY: Sunday's championship match will be broadcast live on ESPN+. You can find links for live stats and the broadcast above, and on the women's soccer schedule page on GoPoly.com. Follow Cal Poly women's soccer on X (@CPWomensSoccer) and Instagram (@calpolysoccer) for live updates throughout the match.

WHAT'S AT STAKE FOR THE STANGS: On Sunday, Cal Poly will be seeking its sixth trip to the Division I NCAA Tournament and first since 2004 with a victory over the Anteaters. The Mustangs will also be eyeing their fourth Big West tournament championship.

CAL POLY VERSUS UC IRVINE: The Mustangs are 21-13-2 all-time against the Anteaters, emerging victorious in their last two meetings, including a 2-1 win at UC Irvine on Oct. 8. The Anteaters scored in the 13th minute of that match before Cal Poly responded with goals in the 26th and 34th from junior forward Emily Nedom and senior forward Kate Reedy to secure its first come from behind victory since defeating the Rainbow Wahine 2-1 in Hawai'i on Sept. 30, 2021.

SCOUTING UC IRVINE: The Anteaters (7-7-6) earned their spot in the championship match with a 1-0 victory over top-seeded Cal State Fullerton on Thursday. This past Sunday, UC Irvine opened its conference tournament run by taking down fourth-seeded Long Beach State in a penalty shootout 4-1 in the first round of the Big West Championship. UC Irvine has won the last two Big West Championship titles, and last year snuck into the conference tournament as the No. 6 seed and advanced all the way to the Third Round of the NCAA Tournament, defeating the 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 returned this fall. The Anteaters are led by All-Big West First Team selections Tati Fung, Kiera Smeenge and Alyssa Moore, who is tied for third in the Big West in points with six goals and five assists. In net, goalkeeper Glo Hinojosa, the 2022 Big West Championship MVP and a two-time All-Big West Second Team selection, owns a 1.10 goals against average and .727 save percentage this season while recording eight clean sheets.

CAL POLY VERSUS UC IRVINE IN THE POSTSEASON: The Mustangs and Anteaters have met in the Big West Championship three times, with Cal Poly emerging victorious in 1996 and coming up short in 1997 and 2021. The two sides have met in the Big West postseason five times, with Cal Poly leading the all-time series 3-2-0.

CAL POLY IN THE 'SHIP: The Mustangs have advanced to the Big West Championship match eight previous times, winning it all in 1996, 2003 and 2004, and posting a 3-3-2 overall mark in the final. The Mustangs have qualified for 14 of the 22 Big West tournaments.

NO MORE GOLDEN: Golden goal is no longer a thing in collegiate soccer. That means if Sunday's championship match is tied after 90 minutes of regulation, two 10-minute overtime periods will be played out and if the game is still tied then a penalty shootout will determine a winner.

CLUTCH IS HER MIDDLE NAME: In the 81st minute of Thursday's semifinal against UC Davis, sophomore forward Jessie Halladay drew a foul in the box and then stepped up and buried a penalty kick to propel the Mustangs to a 2-1 win over the Aggies. It was Halladay's fifth goal of the season — tied for the team lead with Reedy — and her team-leading 14th point. Nedom scored the first goal of the match for the Mustangs, burying her third of the season in the 28th minute.

SCORING BY COMMITTEE: Sophomore Emily Lieber's goal just 39 seconds into the Big West Championship first round victory over Hawai'i last Sunday — the fourth earliest goal to open a match in program history — allowed Cal Poly to reach 15 different goal scorers on the year, tied for the most goal scorers in a season in program history. The 1996 team, who won Cal Poly's first Big West tournament championship, also had 15 goal scorers.

RECORD-BREAKING SHARING: Thanks to freshman defender Siena Urzua's secondary assist on Nedom's goal against UC Davis, 21 different players have recorded a point this season — a program record.

ALL THE PRAISE: Seven Mustangs received All-Big West honors from the conference's coaches, the program's most since 2014. Junior center back Emma Brown was crowned Big West Defensive Player of the Year. She is the fifth Mustang in program history to be named Big West Defensive Player of the Year and the first since Julianne Grinstead in 2009. Reedy, junior goalkeeper Mackenzie Samuel and freshman forward Annika Smith were all selected to the All-Big West Second Team, while sophomore defender Camryn Penn earned All-Big West Honorable Mention recognition. Smith also grabbed a spot on the Big West All-Freshman Team, along with redshirt freshman midfielder Sophia Minnite and freshman midfielder Sophia Moness. Smith is the first Mustang since Megan Abutin in 2013 to be selected to an All-Big West Team and the conference's All-Freshman Team in the same season.

FIRSTS FOR ALL: 10 Mustangs have made their first collegiate appearance this fall and 11 have recorded their first career point — senior Georgia Weeks, junior Emily Nedom, redshirt sophomore Dani Wozniak, sophomores Brennan Cole and Jessie Halladay, redshirt freshman Sophia Minnite, and freshmen Bailey Bracha, Jaycee DeFazio, Sophia Moness, Annika Smith and Siena Urzua. Smith is third on the team in points with 11 (four goals, three assists). Earlier this season, she netted the eighth hat trick in program history.

LEADING THROUGH THE BACK: Brown, Penn and junior center back Aynsley Conner lead a Cal Poly backline that has helped the Mustangs record four shutouts this season and 14 over the past two seasons. Brown started in her 43rd consecutive match Thursday, and the two-time All-Big West First Team selection has appeared in 59 matches during her Cal Poly career, starting in 56 and playing every minute in 49 of them without receiving a card. Conner has appeared in 37 matches during her time as a Mustang, making 35 starts and playing every minute in 24. Penn has started in 36 of the 38 matches she has appeared in.

THE KEEPER: Samuel has been solid between the pipes all season long, recording three shutouts, a 1.17 goals against average and a .720 save percentage. She made her 29th consecutive start in net during Thursday's Big West semifinal. The 2022 Big West Goalkeeper of the Year ranks sixth in program history in career shutouts (16) and 10th in career saves (149).