Mustangs Host LMU Thursday, Travel to No. 12 Santa Clara Sunday

Thursday, September 5

San Luis Obispo, CA

4:30 P.M.

LMU

Tickets

Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics

Mustangs Host LMU Thursday, Travel to No. 12 Santa Clara Sunday

9/4/2024 4:00:00 PM | Women's Soccer

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — After securing two straight shutouts on the road and picking up their first victory of the season, the Cal Poly women’s soccer team returns home to host Loyola Marymount on Thursday before traveling to No. 12 Santa Clara on Sunday to finish off the week.

Thursday’s home match at Mustang Memorial Field at Spanos Stadium will kick off at 4:30 p.m. and is part of a doubleheader with the Cal Poly men’s soccer team. The men’s match against San Jose State starts at 7:30 p.m. and one ticket gets you into both matches. You can purchase tickets to the doubleheader HERE.

TICKETS TO THURSDAY'S MATCH!

WATCH THURSDAY'S MATCH

LIVE STATS THURSDAY

Home Match vs. LMU!

Doubleheader with Men's Soccer

Days

Hours

Mins

Secs

The Mustangs (1-2-2) are fresh off their first win, downing Pacific 2-0 in Stockton on Sunday. The performance capped off an undefeated two-match road trip to Northern California for the Mustangs, who earned a scoreless draw at Sacramento State last Thursday and outshot the Hornets 18-9.

Both matches this week, along with all of Cal Poly's matches this season, will be streamed live on ESPN+.

WATCH SUNDAY

LIVE STATS SUNDAY

Follow Cal Poly Women's Soccer!

Thursday's home match will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with Ryan Giacomini and Jonathan Sze on the call. 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: LMU

Thursday, 4:30 p.m. at Mustang Memorial Field at Spanos Stadium.
Cal Poly is seeking its seventh straight victory over the Lions on Thursday.
The Mustangs lead the all-time series 10-1-0 with their only loss coming on Oct. 7, 2001, at LMU.
This is the first time Cal Poly has hosted the Lions since opening the 2013 season with a 3-0 victory over LMU.
The two teams met last season in Los Angeles, with the Mustangs securing a 2-0 win thanks to a goal and an assist from Jessie Halladay, who transferred to Cal Poly from LMU in the spring of 2023.
LMU owns a 2-2 record this season, starting the year with road victories over UC Santa Barbara and UC Davis before falling short in their last two matches to CSUN and Pittsburgh.
The Lions have had a week to prepare for the Mustangs after suffering a 3-0 home defeat to Pitt on Aug. 29.
LMU is led by senior forward Kylie Dobbs, who has three goals this season. She netted a brace in a 3-2 win at UC Davis on Aug. 18 and scored the game-winner in a 2-0 victory at UCSB on Aug. 15.
Sophomore goalkeeper JJ Hoover has started in net in all four of the Lions’ matches, recording 11 saves, a 1.85 goals against average and a .611 save percentage while allowing seven goals on 46 shots faced.
LMU was picked to finish 10th in the 11-team West Coast Conference Preseason Coaches Poll.

Scouting Report: No. 12 Santa Clara

Sunday, 1 p.m. at Stevens Stadium – Buck Shaw Field.
This is the second straight year these two teams have squared off. Last season, Cal Poly gritted out a hard-fought 1-1 draw against No. 8 Santa Clara in San Luis Obispo. Sophia Moness buried her first collegiate goal in the 21st minute of that match and both teams had a player sent off with a red card before the Broncos scored an equalizer in the 71st minute to escape with a draw. Cal Poly outshot Santa Clara 11-7 in the match.
The preseason favorite in the West Coast Conference, Santa Clara boasts a 5-1 record this season. Last Thursday, they earned a 2-1 home win over Washington before grabbing a 2-0 victory at UC Davis this past Sunday. They also own victories over San Jose State, Cal and Long Beach State, with their only loss coming on Aug. 25 at No. 6 UCLA 1-0.
Midfielders Colby Barnett, Sally Menti and Marissa Vasquez were all named to the All-WCC Preseason Team. Sophomore forward Kennedy Schoennauer has scored a team-high four goals and Menti is second on the team in points with one goal and three assists.
Graduate student goalkeeper Marlee Nicolos has started in net in five of the Broncos’ six matches, posting a 4-1-0 record. She owns a .833 save percentage and a 0.62 goals against average, making 15 saves and allowing just three goals across 52 shots faced.
Santa Clara leads the all-time series 1-17-4.

Shutout Streak

Entering Thursday, Cal Poly has not allowed a goal over its last two matches and 200:34 consecutive minutes of game time.
Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Riley Wilkerson earned her first career clean sheet in her second career start in a scoreless draw at Sacramento State on Thursday, Aug. 29. In two starts this season, the San Luis Obispo native has allowed just one goal and made seven saves while facing 17 shots.
Senior goalkeeper Mackenzie Samuel made one save in this past Sunday's 2-0 victory over Pacific to secure her 17th career shutout, sixth most in program history. Samuel also ranks ninth in program history in career saves (158). Across three starts, Samuel owns a 1-1-1 mark in net this season. Her 0.67 goals against average currently ranks second in the Big West.

Finding Their Footing

After scoring just one goal across its first four matches, Cal Poly buried two in this past Sunday's victory at Pacific. Sophomore Annika Smith converted a penalty kick in the 16th minute and graduate student Whitney Wiley sent one to the back of the net in the 50th minute to secure the win.
For Smith, it was her first goal of the season and the fifth of her career. The Scottsdale, Arizona native has started in 24 of the 25 matches she has appeared in during her Cal Poly career.
Wiley's goal against Pacific 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.
Junior Emily Lieber earned her eighth career assist on Wiley's tally.

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.
Brewer and Evans both made their first collegiate appearance Sunday at Pacific. Wagner made her first appearance last Thursday at Sacramento State.
Lilly Cole has started in all five matches for the Mustangs at outside back, along with her older sister, junior midfielder Brennan Cole.
Midfielder Kiki Vostermans has started in Cal Poly’s last four matches and tallied her first collegiate point in the season opener against Portland, assisting on Emily Nedom's goal in the 34th minute.
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).
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 five matches for the Mustangs and played all 90 minutes in four of them. Entering Thursday’s match against LMU, Brown has started in 49 consecutive matches for the Mustangs and 62 of the 65 she has appeared in during her Cal Poly career, racking up over 5,530 minutes on the pitch without receiving a card.
Brown has played every minute in 54 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 152 appearances and 145 starts across their Cal Poly careers.
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.

SUPPORT WOMEN'S SOCCER

Following this week's action, Cal Poly heads to TCU (4-1), who received votes in the most recent national poll, on Sunday, Sept. 15 to face the Horned Frogs for the very first time.