Cal
Cal Poly Takes on Cal to Wrap Up Road Swing
9/1/2023 9:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — The Cal Poly women's soccer team will face its second and final Pac-12 opponent of the season when the Mustangs travel to Cal on Sunday to cap a four-match road trip.
First kick is set for 4 p.m. at Edwards Stadium. The Mustangs (1-1-1) will be looking to keep the momentum rolling after securing their first victory of the season this past Sunday at Loyola Marymount, downing the Lions 2-0.
FOLLOW CAL POLY: Sunday's match will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Networks. You can find links to 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) for live updates throughout the match.
CAL POLY VERSUS THE GOLDEN BEARS: The last meeting between the two sides was Aug. 19, 2016, when the Mustangs opened the 2016 season with a hard-fought 1-0 defeat at No. 18 Cal. Cal Poly is 2-6-1 all-time against the Golden Bears. The Mustangs' last victory over the Golden Bears occurred on Sept. 25, 2009 in Berkeley, when Cal Poly took down seventh-ranked Cal 1-0 in overtime.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN BEARS: Cal (1-2-0) picked up its first win of the season Thursday night in its home opener, downing San Francisco (0-4-0) 5-1. The victory came after the Golden Bears opened the season with a 4-1 defeat at Tennessee on Aug. 17 and a 3-1 loss at North Carolina, currently No. 4 in the nation, on Aug. 20. Last year, Cal was fourth in the final Pac-12 standings — it's best finish since 2015 — with a 10-5-6 overall record and secured a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019. The Golden Bears have had seven different players score goals for them this season and in net they are led by sophomore Teagan Wy, who was selected to the inaugural preseason All-Pac-12 Coaches Team and is currently tied for 23rd in the nation in saves per match.
RETURN OF THE MAC: The Mustangs are only three matches into the season, but junior goalkeeper Mackenzie Samuel is already in midseason form. She earned Big West Defensive Player of the Week honors for the second time in her career this past week after posting the 14th clean sheet of her career against LMU and making five saves to move to No. 10 on Cal Poly's all-time career saves list. The netminder also secured eight saves and faced 23 shots in a hard-fought 2-1 loss at No. 1 UCLA on Aug. 24, nearly helping the Mustangs capture an historic draw at the defending national champions. The 2022 Big West Goalkeeper of the Year owns a .842 save percentage and a 1.00 goals against average this season and has made 16 saves.
CAREER FIRSTS: Three Mustangs have registered their first collegiate point so far this season. Junior Emily Nedom buried her first career goal in the win over LMU, while sophomore Brennan Cole earned a secondary assist on the score — the first of her career. Sophomore Jessie Halladay scored her first career goal in the season opener against Fresno State and tallied a goal and an assist against her former school this past Sunday. In addition, eight Mustangs have made their first collegiate appearance — redshirt freshman Sophia Minnite, and freshmen Bailey Bracha, Jaycee DeFazio, Sophia Moness, Kasia Wolf, Siena Urzua, Anna Babinski and Annika Smith. Smith has started in the last two matches.
EMMA IS HER: In the victory over LMU, junior center back Emma Brown added to her impressive minutes played streak, not stepping off the pitch for the 10th consecutive match. Across her Cal Poly career, Brown has started in 39 matches, playing every minute in 34 of them. The 2022 All-Big West First Team selection was one of 12 players named to the All-Big West Preseason Coaches Team.
FUN FACT: Cal Poly is currently ranked 19th in the nation in shot accuracy (61.1 percent).
UP NEXT: Cal Poly is set to host a pair of teams that were ranked inside the top 25 in the latest United Soccer Coaches poll next week at Mustang Memorial Field Presented by French Hospital. The Mustangs welcome No. 24 Gonzaga to San Luis Obispo at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 7, for their home opener before taking on Santa Clara, tied for No. 8 in the nation, at noon on Sunday, Sept. 10.
