Thursday, October 24
San Luis Obispo, CA
7 P.M.
vs
Hawai'i
Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics
Women's Soccer Set to Host Final Two Regular Season Home Matches
10/23/2024 6:00:00 PM | Women's Soccer
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — The Cal Poly women’s soccer team returns to Mustang Memorial Field at Spanos Stadium this week to host its final two regular season home matches. The Mustangs take on Hawai’i, who is currently first in the Big West standings, at 7 p.m. Thursday before wrapping the week against UC Davis at noon Sunday.
Following Sunday’s match against the Aggies, Cal Poly will hold a special postgame presentation to honor head coach Alex Crozier in his final regular season home match. Crozier, the only head coach in the 33-year history of the Cal Poly women’s soccer program, will retire following the conclusion of the 2024 season. Across three decades leading the program, Crozier has helped the Mustangs capture 10 regular season conference championships, and earn six NCAA Tournament appearances and three Big West Tournament titles. He has the most career wins among Big West coaches all-time, both in conference play (129-70-31) and overall (325-232-70).
Tickets to Cal Poly’s final two home matches can be found above and at GoPoly.com/Tickets.
Follow Cal Poly Women's Soccer!
Both home matches this week will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Ryan Giacomini and Mark Robinson will be on the call Thursday, while Ty Soria and Dylan Allen 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: Hawai’i
- Thursday, 7 p.m. at Mustang Memorial Field at Spanos Stadium
- The Rainbow Wahine (10-6-1 overall) are the only team in the conference that has clinched a spot in the six-team Big West tournament, securing a spot this past Sunday at home with a 2-1 victory over UC Riverside.
- Hawai’i currently sits in first place in the Big West standings with 19 points (6-0-1 record) and is 3 points ahead of second place UC Santa Barbara with three matches left in the season.
- Last year, the Mustangs captured a thrilling 2-1 come-from-behind victory at Hawai’i during the regular season meeting between the two sides as Kate Reedy buried the go-ahead goal for Cal Poly just 32 seconds after Olivia Ortiz leveled the match — the second quickest time interval in program history between an equalizing and go-ahead goal. Cal Poly then beat the sixth-seeded Rainbow Wahine again by the exact same scoreline a week later in the first round of the Big West Championships at Mustang Memorial Field.
- Cal Poly leads the all-time series 10-1-3 and is undefeated in its last five matches (3-0-2) against Hawai’i.
- Hawai’i can clinch the No. 1 seed in the Big West tournament with a win against the Mustangs on Thursday or with a UCSB draw or loss against UC Davis on Thursday.
- Hawai’i is unbeaten in its last nine matches (8-0-1) and from Sept. 26-Oct. 13 posted five straight shutouts, matching a program record for consecutive clean sheets.
- The Rainbow Wahine are led by freshman midfielder Nalani Damacion who has scored six goals this season, all game winners — tied for the second most game-winning goals in Division I this season. Damacion is fifth in the conference in points (12).
- Redshirt freshman Kennedy Justin has started in net for the Rainbow Wahine in 16 of their 17 matches. She has five shutouts this season, tied for the second most in the Big West, a 1.074 goals against average, second best in the conference, a .784 save percentage and 58 total saves.
Scouting Report: UC Davis
- Sunday, Noon at Mustang Memorial Field at Spanos Stadium
- With three matches remaining, UC Davis (10-4-2, 3-2-2 Big West) currently sits in fifth place in the conference standings with 11 points.
- The Aggies will travel to UC Santa Barbara at 7 p.m. Thursday before facing the Mustangs. UC Davis secured a 2-2 draw at UC Irvine this past Sunday and is unbeaten in its last four matches (2-0-2).
- Cal Poly leads the all-time series with the Aggies 12-8-2.
- The Mustangs fell 1-0 at UC Davis in their regular season matchup last year before avenging that defeat in the Big West semifinals with a 2-1 victory over the Aggies in Fullerton to punch their ticket to the conference championship match. Jessie Halladay scored the game-winning goal in that Big West semifinal match, burying a penalty kick in the 81st minute.
- Redshirt junior Genavieve Fontes leads the Aggies in goals (9) and points (20) this season. Her nine goals lead the Big West and are tied for the 38th most in Division. Teammate Sam Tristan isn’t far behind Fontes with 8 goals and 19 points, which both rank second in the Big West.
- UC Davis leads the conference in goals scored this season (33), averaging over two per match.
- Goalkeeper Caeley Goldstein has started in every match for the Aggies, recording five shutouts, a 1.31 goals against average, a .764 save percentage and 68 saves while allowing 21 goals on 182 shots faced.
Big West Table Update
- Cal Poly needs to have a strong showing in its two final home matches this week to stay in the hunt for a spot in the Big West tournament. The Mustangs currently sit in ninth place in the conference standings with 7 points (a 2-4-1 record), but only trail UC Davis and Cal State Fullerton who are both tied for fifth place by 4 points.
Last Week on the Pitch
- The Mustangs earned their second Big West victory at CSUN last Thursday, defeating the Matadors 2-0 to secure their fourth shutout of the season.
- In the win at CSUN, junior forward Jessie Halladay tallied a goal and an assist, while senior forward Kate Reedy buried her fourth goal of the season. Halladay is tied for second on the team in points (8) this season with three goals and two assists.
- Senior goalkeeper Mackenzie Samuel recorded her 19th career clean sheet in the victory at CSUN, moving into sole possession of fifth on Cal Poly’s career shutouts list.
- In its latest matchup at Cal State Bakersfield this past Sunday, the Mustangs fell 2-0. Senior defender Emma Brown made her 73rd career start in the match, moving her to fifth most in Cal Poly history. Samuel started in net for the 57th time in her career, tied for the fourth most in program history among Cal Poly goalkeepers, and earned two saves to give her 195 in her career — seventh most in Cal Poly history.
Penalty Perfection
- Cal Poly has converted all five of its penalty kick opportunities this season, tied for the second best conversion percentage in Division I this season based on attempts. The five penalty kick attempts are tied for the 14th most in the nation and the five total conversions are tied for the seventh 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 16 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 four this year, the second most on the team. She has 13 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 16 matches for the Mustangs and played all 90 minutes in 14 of them. Entering Thursday's match against Hawai'i, Brown has started in 60 consecutive matches for the Mustangs and 73 of the 76 she has appeared in during her Cal Poly career, racking up over 6,465 minutes on the pitch without receiving a card.
- Brown has played every minute in 64 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 185 appearances and 177 starts across their Cal Poly careers.
- Conner leads the team in minutes this season (1,415) and has played all 90 minutes in 14 of 16 matches and eight straight.
- Brown and Conner are two of the Mustangs’ three captains this season, along with senior McKenna Carbon.
One Last Ride for Coach Crozier
- 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 the sixth most in the Big West. Across her Cal Poly career, Smith has tallied nine goals and three assists over 36 appearances and 34 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 52 matches across her Cal Poly career, tallying one goal and three assists.
Following this week's two home matches, Cal Poly hits the road for its final regular season match, traveling to UC San Diego on Thursday, Oct. 31, to face the Tritons at 7 p.m.
Cal Poly vs. UC San Diego, Women's Soccer Highlights -- Sep 25th, 2025
Friday, September 26
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
