Back in Action: Cal Poly Heads to CSUN, Cal State Bakersfield

Thursday, October 17

Northridge, CA / Matador Soccer Field

6 P.M.

CSUN

Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics

Back in Action: Cal Poly Heads to CSUN, Cal State Bakersfield

10/16/2024 11:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — After a rare 11-day break in action in the middle of conference play, the Cal Poly women’s soccer team returns to the pitch this week for a pair of critical Big West matches on the road.

The Mustangs (3-8-3, 1-3-1 Big West) head to CSUN (4-9-2, 2-2-2 BW) at 6 p.m. Thursday before traveling to Cal State Bakersfield (5-9-2, 3-2-1 BW) at noon Sunday. With five matches remaining in the regular season, both contests will be pivotal in determining if the Mustangs can earn a berth in the six-team Big West tournament. Both matches can be seen live on ESPN+. You can find links to watch both matches and follow the live stats below and on the Cal Poly women’s soccer schedule page.

2024 Cal Poly Women's Soccer

Upcoming Schedule

Sep 7, 2025 at 1 P.M.

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Cal

Sep 14, 2025 at 7 P.M.

Women's Soccer vs

Seattle

Sep 18, 2025 at 7 P.M.

Women's Soccer at

UC Santa Barbara

Sep 25, 2025 at 7 P.M.

Women's Soccer vs

UC San Diego

HAWAI'I TICKETS

UC DAVIS TICKETS

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You can find links to watch both road matches and follow live stats within this story and on the women’s soccer schedule page. Follow Cal Poly women's soccer on Instagram (@calpolysoccer) and X/Twitter (@CPWomensSoccer) for live updates throughout both matches.

Scouting Report: CSUN

Thursday, 6 p.m. at Matador Soccer Field
Cal Poly rolled to a commanding 4-0 victory over CSUN last season in San Luis Obispo, shattering the program’s single-match home attendance record in the process (4,064).
The Mustangs lead the all-time series 11-9-3 and have won the last three meetings with the Matadors.
With a 2-2-2 record in the Big West this season, CSUN (4-9-2 overall) currently sits in a three-way tie for fifth in the conference standings (8 points) with UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton. The Matadors most recently earned a 2-2 draw at UC Riverside this past Sunday. CSUN owns victories over Long Beach State and UC San Diego, fell to UC Irvine and Hawai’i and also grabbed a draw at home against Cal State Fullerton.
Under the stewardship of first-year head coach Gina Brewer, the Matadors were picked to finish 11th in the 11-team Big West Preseason Coaches Poll.
Junior midfielder Yoshi Rubalcava is tied with two other players for the fourth most points in the Big West this season (12). She has a team-high five goals, tied with a host of others for the third most in the conference, and has a pair of assists, tied for the team lead.
Redshirt junior goalkeeper Riley Liebsack has been in net for the Matadors every single minute this season, recording a 1.47 goals against average, a .778 save percentage and two shutouts across 15 matches. She leads the Big West in total saves with 77.

Scouting Report: Cal State Bakersfield

Sunday, noon at Main Soccer Field
Last season, Cal Poly earned a 2-0 home victory over the Roadrunners while holding CSUB to just three total shots and one on goal.
The Mustangs are 11-2-0 all-time against the Roadrunners, but the last time Cal Poly traveled to Bakersfield in 2022 they fell 3-1.
One of the biggest surprises in the conference so far this season, Cal State Bakersfield is currently tied for second in the Big West standings with 10 points after being picked to finish ninth in the Preseason Coaches Poll.
The Roadrunners most recently lost 1-0 at Long Beach this past Sunday and will host UC Santa Barbara on Thursday night before welcoming the Mustangs to Bakersfield on Sunday. With a 3-2-1 Big West record, CSUB owns victories over UC Davis (2-1 on Sept. 29), UC San Diego (3-0 on Oct. 3) and UC Irvine (1-0 on Oct. 10) and drew at Riverside on Oct. 6. Their only other loss in conference play came in their Big West opener at first-place Hawai’i on Sept. 26, falling 1-0.
CSUB is led by second-year head coach Bernardo Silva, who was an assistant on the Cal Poly coaching staff from 2013-16.
13 different players have scored a goal for Bakersfield this season, led by senior forward Karen Flores who has four. Senior forward Kim Garcia and junior midfielder Sara Yabarra are the only other Roadrunners with multiple goals this season.
Senior Hollee Hercik and junior Kamy Anaya have split time in net for the Roadrunners this season. Anaya has started in the last two matches, and owns a 2-5-1 record while allowing 15 goals and posting a 2.10 goals against average, a .694 save percentage, 34 saves and a shutout. Across 10 starts, Herick has recorded a .789 save percentage, a 1.35 goals against average, 45 saves and two shutouts while allowing 12 goals. She is 3-4-1 this season.

Big West Table Update

Entering Thursday, Hawai’i currently sits in first place in the Big West standings with 16 points (a 5-0-1 conference record). UC Santa Barbara is in second with an unbeaten mark (4-0-2) and Cal State Bakersfield and LBSU are tied for third with 10 points each. With a 1-3-1 conference record thus far, Cal Poly is currently ninth in the 11-team Big West standings, but only trails fifth by 4 points (equivalent to a win and a draw). The top six teams in the conference regular season standings advance to the Big West tournament, with the opening round scheduled to start on Sunday, Nov. 3.

Last Time on the Pitch

In its last match on Oct. 6 at home against Long Beach State, Cal Poly clung to a 2-1 lead for nearly 52 minutes of game time before LBSU found an equalizer in the 81st minute to escape San Luis Obispo with a 2-2 draw.
The Mustangs outplayed and outshot LBSU and won the possession battle, but Long Beach scored both of its goals on set pieces.
LBSU scored first in the 24th minute, but less than five minutes later Cal Poly owned a 2-1 advantage thanks to goal from graduate student Whitney Wiley and junior Jessie Halladay. Wiley and Halladay found the back of the net 1:39 apart, the fourth quickest time interval in program history between an equalizing and go-ahead goal.
Wiley’s goal was her third of the season — tied for the second most on the team — third as a Mustang and 13th of her collegiate career. Wiley transferred to Cal Poly prior to the 2023 season after playing at New Hampshire from 2019-22.
Halladay’s strike was her second goal of the season, both coming by way of penalty kicks. She now has seven goals in her career. Halladay also earned her first assist of the season on Wiley’s goal.
Senior center back Emma Brown made her 71st career start in the match, the sixth most in Cal Poly history.
Senior goalkeeper Mackenzie Samuel secured two saves in the match to move into a tie with Brooke Gauvin (2008-11) for the seventh most career saves in program history (186).

Penalty Perfection

Cal Poly has converted all five of its penalty kick opportunities this season, tied with University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Xavier for the best conversion percentage in Division I this season based on attempts. The five penalty kick attempts are tied for the 11th most in the nation and the five total conversions are tied for the third most in the country. Jessie Halladay has scored two penalty kick goals, while Sophia Moness, Kate Reedy and Annika Smith have each buried one.

Freshman Firsts

Seven Mustangs have made their collegiate debut so far this season — redshirt freshman Ali Evans and Courtney Wagner, and freshmen Ashley Brewer, Avery Chaney, Lilly Cole, Lauren Collier and Kiki Vostermans.
Midfielder Kiki Vostermans has started in 10 of Cal Poly's 14 matches.
Lilly Cole, the younger sister of junior midfielder Brennan Cole, has started in five matches for the Mustangs at outside back.
In total, 30 players have appeared in a match for the Mustangs this season.

Historic Second Half on Senior Day

In a 5-1 Senior Day victory over Nevada on Sept. 22, Cal Poly scored five goals in the second half in a span of 32:49 minutes of game time, marking the first time since Sept. 23, 2000, that the Mustangs scored five goals in a half. In a 7-0 victory over Butler at the Montana Invitational in 2000, the Mustangs scored five second half goals in a span of 24:38.

The Most Returners in the Nation

Experience is something the Mustangs aren't lacking this fall. Cal Poly returns 26 letterwinners, 10 starters and 90 percent of its goal production from its 2023 team that advanced to the program’s ninth Big West Championship match, tied for the most all-time in conference history.
In total, the Mustangs boast 30 returners, the most of any team in Division I this season.
Cal Poly returns all seven of its All-Big West honorees from a year ago — senior defender Emma Brown, senior forward Kate Reedy, senior goalkeeper Mackenzie Samuel, junior defender Camryn Penn, redshirt sophomore midfielder Sophia Minnite, sophomore forward Annika Smith and sophomore midfielder Sophia Moness.
Cal Poly has 38 players on the team this season with only eight newcomers, all freshmen.

Brown, Reedy Receive Preseason Praise

Seniors Kate Reedy and Emma Brown both earned a spot on the 11-player All-Big West Preseason Coaches Team, marking the first time since 2022 the program has had multiple players secure preseason honors.
For Reedy, this is her first time receiving All-Big West preseason accolades. Last year, the All-Big West Second Team honoree led the entire conference in game-winning goals (three), tied for the team lead in goals (five) and was second on the team in points (13).
Reedy, who has started in Cal Poly's last six matches, scored her first goal of the season in a 2-1 home defeat to LMU on Sept. 5 and has three this year, tied for the second most on the team. She has 12 goals and three assists across her Cal Poly career.
Brown grabbed an All-Big West Preseason selection for the second straight season. The center back was also one of 26 players in Division I tabbed as a “Defender to Watch” by the United Soccer Coaches ahead of the 2024 season. Brown is the reigning Big West Defensive Player of the Year and started in all 21 matches for the Mustangs a year ago, playing every minute in 19 of them and racking up 1,837 total minutes on the pitch, the most on the team among field players.
This season, Brown has started in all 14 matches for the Mustangs and played all 90 minutes in 12 of them. Entering Thursday's match against UC Irvine, Brown has started in 58 consecutive matches for the Mustangs and 71 of the 74 she has appeared in during her Cal Poly career, racking up over 6,285 minutes on the pitch without receiving a card.
Brown has played every minute in 62 matches during her Mustang career.

The Mustangs' Returning Offensive Firepower

Cal Poly’s top seven point-getters from a year ago are all back this season, including Jessie Halladay who led the team in points with five goals and four assists.
In 2023, the Mustangs set a program record for players to record a point in a season (21) and matched a 27-year-old program record for goal scorers in a season (15).

Building Through the Backline

Cal Poly has relied heavily on its experience-laden backline this season, as the team brings back three of its four starters from a year ago — center backs Aynsley Conner and Emma Brown and outside back Camryn Penn.
Between the three of them, the trio boasts 179 appearances and 171 starts across their Cal Poly careers.
Conner leads the team in minutes this season (1,235) and has played all 90 minutes in 12 of 14 matches.
Brown and Conner are two of the Mustangs’ three captains this season, along with senior McKenna Carbon.

One Last Ride for Coach Crozier

The Mustangs will have a little extra motivation on the pitch this fall as head coach Alex Crozier announced back in June that he will retire at the end of the 2024 season after 33 years at the helm.
The only head coach in the history of the Cal Poly women’s soccer program, Crozier has been named the Big West Coach of the Year a record six times and enters the 2024 season ranked 23rd nationally in career victories among active Division I head coaches and No. 42 all-time with a 321-223-67 overall record.
Crozier has led the Mustangs to 10 regular season conference championships, six NCAA Tournament appearances and three Big West Tournament titles, and he has the most career victories among Big West coaches all-time, both in conference play (127-66-30) and overall.
He is one of the longest active tenured women’s soccer head coaches in all of Division I and has coached long enough to mentor the daughters of some of his former players, including Aynsley Conner, who is the daughter of Cathie Cardoza Conner, a member of the program's inaugural team in 1992.
Cal Poly is seeking its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 20 years in Crozier’s final season this fall.

Empty the Notebook

Sophomore forward Annika Smith has a team-high five goals on the season, tied for third most in the Big West. Across her Cal Poly career, Smith has tallied nine goals and three assists over 34 appearances and 32 starts.
Freshman midfielder Kiki Vostermans has a team-high four assists on the season — tied for the fourth most in the Big West.
Junior outside back Camryn Penn has started in 50 matches across her Cal Poly career, tallying one goal and three assists.

SUPPORT WOMEN'S SOCCER

Following this week's two road matches, Cal Poly returns home next week for its final two regular season home matches. The Mustangs host Hawai'i at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 24, and UC Davis on Sunday, Oct. 27, at noon. Following Sunday's home match against UC Davis, a special video celebrating the career of head coach Alex Crozier will play on the videoboard following the match so fans are encouraged to stick around and support coach Crozier during his final regular season home match.