Thursday, October 3
San Luis Obispo, CA
7 P.M.
vs
UC Irvine
Photo by: Kyle Cajero
Cal Poly Set to Host Pivotal Big West Matches Against UC Irvine, LBSU
10/2/2024 7:30:00 PM | Women's Soccer
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — After splitting a pair of Big West road matches, the Cal Poly women’s soccer team returns home this week to host two crucial conference matches against UC Irvine and Long Beach State at Mustang Memorial Field at Spanos Stadium.
Action starts Thursday at 7 p.m. against the Anteaters (3-4-3, 1-0-1 Big West) and the Mustangs (3-7-2, 1-2-0 Big West) cap the week by hosting the Beach (5-5-1, 2-1-0 Big West) at 9 a.m. Sunday. The match against LBSU was originally scheduled to start at noon, but was moved up to 9 a.m. due to forecasted extreme heat and for the safety of everyone involved.
Both matches are part of Alumni Weekend for the program and plenty of alums are expected to attend to honor and celebrate coach Alex Crozier, who is in his 33rd and final year as head coach. Tickets to both matches and the team’s four remaining home matches can be found above and at GoPoly.com/Tickets.
Follow Cal Poly Women's Soccer!
Both home matches this week — along with all Cal Poly women’s soccer matches this season — will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Dylan Allen and Anthony Molleson will be on the call Thursday, while Ty Soria and Jonathan Sze will both on the broadcast for Sunday’s match. You can find links to watch both 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: UC Irvine
- Thursday, 7 p.m. at Mustang Memorial Field at Spanos Stadium
- Cal Poly is looking to avenge a 1-0 defeat to the Anteaters in last year’s Big West Championship match at Cal State Fullerton’s Titan Stadium.
- The Mustangs have emerged victorious in their last two regular season meetings with UCI, defeating them 2-1 in Irvine last season and 2-0 in San Luis Obispo in 2022.
- Cal Poly leads the all-time series 21-14-2.
- UC Irvine is 3-4-3 this season and 1-0-1 in Big West play. They defeated CSUN 2-1 this past Sunday at home as goalkeeper Ashley Naylor made a penalty kick save in the 86th minute to preserve the victory. The Anteaters earned a scoreless draw at UC San Diego in their conference opener on Sept. 19. UCI’s other two wins this season came at Saint Mary’s 3-0 on Aug. 15 and at Pacific 3-2 on Sept. 12.
- The Anteaters have won the last three Big West Championships and advanced to the Round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament the last two years.
- Senior forwards Laila El Behery leads the team in points (9) and goals (4) this season, and is averaging 1.13 points per match — third best in the Big West. Senior forward Kaitlyn Paculba has scored three goals.
- Graduate student Ashley Naylor has started in net in all 10 matches for the Anteaters this season, posting a 3-4-3 record. She has a 1.53 goals against average, a .605 save percentage and allowed 15 goals while facing 93 shots.
Scouting Report: Long Beach State
- Sunday, 9 a.m. at Mustang Memorial Field at Spanos Stadium
- Cal Poly is winless in its last three matches against the Beach, last beating LBSU in Long Beach 1-0 in 2021. In 2023, the two sides played to a scoreless draw in Long Beach.
- The Mustangs lead the all-time series 13-10-6.
- Long Beach State owns a 5-5-1 record this season and a 2-1-0 mark in Big West play. They are fresh off a 4-3 victory at UC San Diego this past Sunday that saw Makayla Demelo bury the game-winner with 7:28 left in the match. LBSU fell at home to CSUN 1-0 on Sept. 26 and defeated UC Riverside 3-0 in Long Beach on Sept. 22 to open conference play. The Beach travels to Big West leading UC Santa Barbara at 6 p.m. Thursday before facing the Mustangs.
- Junior forward Liz Worden was named the Big West Offensive Player of the Week this past week after tallying one goal and two assists in their win at UC San Diego. Worden has three goals and three assists this season while senior forward Kassandra Ceja leads the team in points (10) with three goals and four assists.
- Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Aurora Schuck has started in all 11 matches, recording 45 saves, a 1.45 goals average, a .738 save percentage and three shutouts while facing 131 shots.
Big West Table Update
- Through three Big West matches, Cal Poly currently sits a three-way tie with UC Davis and Cal State Bakersfield for seventh in the conference standings with 3 points (1-2-0 record).
- UCSB is in first place with 7 points (2-0-1 record) and Hawai’i and LBSU are both tied for second with 6 points each.
- The top six teams in the 11-team Big West regular season standings advance to the conference tournament.
Last Timeout
- Cal Poly had a two-match winning streak snapped at Cal State Fullerton this past Sunday, falling 1-0 to the Titans. The Mustangs were outshot 23-15 in the match and Mackenzie Samuel made six saves in the final 16 minutes of action to help keep the team in it.
- Last Thursday, the Mustangs secured their first Big West victory of the season at UC Riverside, downing the Highlanders 2-0 thanks to goals from Whitney Wiley and Kate Reedy.
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.
- Outside back Lauren Collier has started in four of the last five matches for the Mustangs.
- Midfielder Kiki Vostermans has started in eight of Cal Poly's 12 matches.
- Lilly Cole, the younger sister of junior midfielder Brennan Cole, has started in five matches for the Mustangs at outside back.
- In total, 28 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, Cal Poly's super sub, scored her first goal of the season in a 2-1 home defeat to LMU on Sept. 5 and has three this year, including two in the last three matches. 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 12 matches for the Mustangs and played all 90 minutes in 10 of them. Entering Thursday's match against UC Irvine, Brown has started in 56 consecutive matches for the Mustangs and 69 of the 72 she has appeared in during her Cal Poly career, racking up over 6,105 minutes on the pitch without receiving a card.
- Brown has played every minute in 60 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 will rely 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 173 appearances and 165 starts across their Cal Poly careers.
- Conner leads the team in minutes this season (1,055) and has played all 90 minutes in nine of 12 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.
- 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 32 appearances and 30 starts.
- Freshman midfielder Kiki Vostermans has a team-high four assists on the season — tied for the third most in the Big West.
- Junior outside back Camryn Penn has started in 48 matches across her Cal Poly career, tallying one goal and three assists.
- Juniors Emily Lieber and Brennan Cole each have three assists this season. Lieber has 10 assists in her career, while Cole has six.
- Graduate student Whitney Wiley has scored two goals this season. The Vienna, Virginia native transferred to Cal Poly last season after playing at New Hampshire from 2019-22.
- Senior Emma Brown is currently tied for eighth in Cal Poly history in career matches started (69).
Following this week's two home matches, Cal Poly gets a well-earned 11-day break before traveling to CSUN on Thursday, Oct. 17, at 6 p.m. to face the Matadors.
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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
