Thursday, September 19
San Luis Obispo, CA
7 P.M.
vs
UC Santa Barbara
Photo by: Lexi Brewer
Mustangs Host Rival UCSB Thursday in Big West Opener, Nevada Sunday for Senior Day
9/18/2024 6:00:00 PM | Women's Soccer
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — The Cal Poly women’s soccer program returns home this week to open Big West play against Blue-Green rival UC Santa Barbara on Thursday and host a Senior Day showdown against Nevada on Sunday to wrap up nonconference play.
Thursday’s home match with the Gauchos at Mustang Memorial Field at Spanos Stadium will kick off at 7 p.m. and is part of Cal Poly’s Week of Welcome festivities. Prior to Sunday’s match against Nevada at noon, the Mustangs will honor their 12 seniors. Tickets to both matches and the team’s six 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+. Mark Robinson and Ryan Giacomini will be on the call Thursday, while Ty Soria and Jonathan Sze will both on the broadcast for Sunday’s Senior Day 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 Santa Barbara
- Thursday, 7 p.m. at Mustang Memorial Field at Spanos Stadium
- The Mustangs are seeking their fourth straight victory over the Gauchos. Last year in Santa Barbara, McKenna Carbon, Kate Reedy and Jessie Halladay all scored goals in the second half to help Cal Poly roll to a 3-1 road win.
- Cal Poly leads the all-time series with the Gauchos 18-8-8. The Mustangs haven’t lost at home to UCSB since falling 4-2 on Oct. 19, 2008. Overall, the Gauchos last win over Cal Poly came on Oct. 15, 2015 in Santa Barbara.
- UCSB owns a 2-3-4 record this season, securing 3-0 home victories over San Jose State on Sept. 1 and Pacific this past Sunday. The Gauchos have yet to earn a road victory this season and secured draws against Sacramento State, Fresno State, San Diego and New Mexico. Last season, UC Santa Barbara posted a 4-8-7 overall record and a 2-6-2 mark in conference play.
- Freshman forward Devin Greer leads the Gauchos in points (6) and goals (3) this season. Overall, the Gauchos have tallied nine goals this year from seven different goal scorers.
- Sophomore Maddie Buckley has started in net for USCB in seven of their nine matches this season, recording four shutouts, 19 saves, a 0.77 goals against average and a .792 save percentage while facing 84 shots. She has allowed five goals and owns a 1-2-3 record.
Scouting Report: Nevada
- Sunday, noon at Mustang Memorial Field at Spanos Stadium
- Sunday’s match will mark the first meeting between the Mustangs and the Wolf Pack since Aug. 24, 2012 in Reno and just the fourth overall. Cal Poly is hosting Nevada for the first time since 2011.
- Cal Poly leads the all-time series 2-0-1.
- The Wolf Pack went 6-10-5 last season and fell to No. 3 seed Boise State 2-0 in the first round of the 2023 Mountain West Tournament.
- Nevada owns a 2-5 record this season, opening the year with victories over Kansas State and Southern Utah before losing five straight victories. The Wolf Pack have only scored four goals this season.
- Fifth-year defender Lauren Muff, senior forward Emily Rich and senior midfielder Cassidy Bell were all named to the 2024 Mountain West preseason Players to Watch list. Sophomore forward Olivia Loomis leads the Wolf Pack with three goals and Rich has recorded four assists this season.
- Junior Mia Collins and redshirt sophomore Alyssa Szarlacki have split time in net for Nevada this season, with Collins earning the most recent start in a 1-0 home defeat to Grand Canyon this past Sunday. Across four starts, Collins has recorded 22 saves, a 1.50 goals against average and a .786 save percentage while facing 69 shots. She 1-3-0 in net this season and has allowed six goals.
Last Timeout
- Junior forward Jessie Halladay scored her first goal of the season and the sixth of her career in last Sunday’s 5-1 loss at TCU. It was the first meeting all-time between the two programs.
- Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Riley Wilkerson made her fourth career start between the pipes for the Mustangs and recorded 10 saves.
- On Thursday, Cal Poly is seeking its first victory since Sept. 1.
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 made her first career start in last Sunday's loss at TCU.
- Midfielder Kiki Vostermans has started in seven of Cal Poly's eight 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.
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 39 players on the team this season — tied for the second most in the nation — with only nine newcomers, eight freshmen and one transfer.
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. She has 10 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 eight matches for the Mustangs and played all 90 minutes in six of them. Entering Thursday's match against UCSB, Brown has started in 52 consecutive matches for the Mustangs and 65 of the 68 she has appeared in during her Cal Poly career, racking up over 5,745 minutes on the pitch without receiving a card.
- Brown has played every minute in 56 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 161 appearances and 154 starts across their Cal Poly careers.
- Conner leads the team in minutes this season (695) and has played all 90 minutes in five of eight 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 three goals on the season, with all three coming in the Mustangs' last four matches. Across her Cal Poly career, Smith has tallied seven goals and three assists over 28 appearances and 27 starts.
- Freshman midfielder Kiki Vostermans has a team-high three assists on the season — tied for the second most in the Big West.
- Junior outside back Camryn Penn has started in 45 matches across her Cal Poly career — including 21 straight — and tallied one goal and three assists.
- Senior goalkeeper Mackenzie Samuel is currently No. 9 on Cal Poly's all-time list in career saves (166) fifth in career starts (49) among goalkeepers.
- Juniors Emily Lieber and Brennan Cole each have two assists this season. Lieber has nine assists in her career, while Cole has five.
- Graduate student Whitney Wiley's goal against Pacific on Sept. 1 was her second as a Mustang and the 11th of her collegiate career. The Vienna, Virginia native transferred to Cal Poly last season after playing at New Hampshire from 2019-22.
- Senior Mackenzie Samuel and redshirt sophomore Riley Wilkerson have split time in net for the Mustangs this season. Across four starts, Samuel has recorded 16 saves, a 1.50 goals against average and a .727 save percentage, and allowed six goals while facing 52 shots. In four starts, Wilkerson has earned 21 saves, a 2.00 goals against average and a .724 save percentage, and allowed eight goals while facing 61 shots. Wilkerson, a San Luis Obispo native, made her first career start against Fresno State on Aug. 18.
- Senior Emma Brown is currently tied for 15th in Cal Poly history in career matches started (65).
Following this week's action, Cal Poly hits the road to face UC Riverside on Thursday, Sept. 26, and Cal State Fullerton on Sunday, Sept. 29.
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Tuesday, January 21
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Thursday, December 19
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Wednesday, October 30
