Mustangs Travel to SoCal to Face LBSU, UCI

Thursday, October 16

Long Beach, CA / George Allen Field

6 P.M.

Long Beach State

Annika Smith, goal shot, 101225, Cal State Fullerton

Photo by: Chloe Briote-Johnson

Mustangs Travel to SoCal to Face LBSU, UCI

10/16/2025 1:00:00 PM | Women's Soccer

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LIVE STATS SUNDAY

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — The Cal Poly women’s soccer team looks to continue its climb up the Big West table when they head to Southern California this week for a pair of crucial conference matches.

The Mustangs (5-2-8, 3-2-1 Big West) travel to Long Beach State (5-5-3, 2-1-2 BW) at 6 p.m. Thursday before making their way to UC Irvine (6-3-5, 3-1-1 BW) on Sunday for a 1 p.m. showdown with the Anteaters. Thursday’s match will not be livestreamed, but live stats are available HERE. Sunday’s contest at UC Irvine can be seen live on ESPN+.

Follow Cal Poly Women’s Soccer!

Thursday’s match will not be livestreamed, but live stats are available HERE. Sunday’s contest at UC Irvine can be seen live on ESPN+. Follow Cal Poly women's soccer on Instagram (@calpolysoccer) and X/Twitter (@CPWomensSoccer) for live updates throughout both matches.

Mustangs 1 Point Behind First Place in Big West Standings

With four matches remaining in the regular season, Cal Poly (5-2-8 overall, 3-2-1 Big West) currently sits in a three-way tie for third place in the conference standings at 10 points with UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton. The Mustangs are just 1 point behind conference co-leaders UC Santa Barbara and CSUN at 11 points.

Scouting Report: Long Beach State

6 p.m. Thursday at George Allen Field
The Mustangs lead the all-time series with the Beach 13-10-7.
Last year, the two sides played to a 2-2 draw in San Luis Obispo.
LBSU currently sits in sixth place in the Big West standings with 8 points. They defeated UC Riverside 3-0 and UC Davis 1-0 this past Sunday, earned a scoreless draw against Hawai’i and a 1-1 draw at home to UCI and fell 2-1 at Cal State Bakersfield a week ago.
The Beach has only lost one of their last eight matches.
LBSU is led by junior forward Cherrie Cox, who was named the 2023 Big West Offensive Player of the Year and earned United Soccer Coaches All-West Region First Team honors that season. She leads the team in points this year with five goals and two assists across nine matches.
Freshman midfielder Ameera White has five assists this season, third most in the Big West.

Scouting Report: UC Irvine

1 p.m. Sunday at Anteater Stadium
The Mustangs suffered a 2-0 home defeat to the Anteaters last season, but lead the all-time series 21-15-2.
In Cal Poly’s last trip to Irvine in 2023, the Mustangs defeated the Anteaters 2-1.
With a 3-1-1 record in Big West play, UC Irvine is currently tied with Cal Poly and Cal State Fullerton for third place in the conference table.
The Anteaters will host UC Santa Barbara at 6 p.m. Thursday before taking on the Mustangs.
UC Irvine is unbeaten in its last three matches (2-0-1). The Anteaters own victories over UC Riverside, Cal State Bakersfield and UC Davis, drew with LBSU and lost 1-0 at CSUN on Sept. 25.
The Anteaters are led by the Colombini twins, Mia and Ella. Mia has buried five goals this season, tied for third most in the conference, while Ella has six assists, second most in the Big West

Big West Weekly Praise

After netting both goals in Sunday’s 2-0 triumph over the Titans, junior forward Annika Smith was crowned the Big West Offensive Player of the Week for the second time this season and the third time in her career. Smith’s Sunday brace was the third of her career and her fourth multi-goal performance during her time as a Mustang.
After recording her fifth clean sheet of the season in Sunday’s victory, redshirt freshman goalkeeper Shannon Porubski was tabbed as the Big West Freshman of the Week for the third time this season. Porubski made four saves across Cal Poly’s two matches last week while facing 19 shots. She is 5-2-3 in net this season, recording a 1.00 goals against average and a .744 save percentage.

The Conference’s Best Front Duo

The Mustangs currently boast the conference’s top two leading scorers this season in junior forward Annika Smith and senior forward Jessie Halladay. The dynamic duo is currently tied for the Big West lead in goals with seven apiece. Smith leads the conference in total points with 17 (seven goals, three assists), while Halladay is right on her reels with 16 (seven goals, two assists). Halladay also leads the Big West in shots (54).

Dishing It Up

Cal Poly also has the conference leader in assists as graduate student midfielder Madelyn Dougherty is setting the pace for the league with seven this season. The seven assists are tied for the sixth most in a single season by a Mustang all-time.

The Facts

Halladay is currently tied with Sara Lancaster (2011-14) for 16th all-time in career points at Cal Poly with 41.
With 70 career starts, senior outside back Camryn Penn is currently tied for seventh all-time in Cal Poly history.
Penn and junior Annika Smith have started in 24 consecutive matches for the Mustangs.
Penn, Smith, graduate student Madelyn Dougherty and senior Brennan Cole are the only players that have started in all 15 matches this season.
Cole leads the Mustangs in minutes played this season (1,304). She has played every minute in 11 of 15 matches.

Cal Poly Debuts

Through 15 matches, 11 players have made their first appearance in a Cal Poly uniform. Redshirt freshman Shannon Porubski, and freshmen Addie Crosno, Farra Franklin, Kammy MacLennan, Izzy Matteson and Sam Walker have all made their collegiate debuts, while transfers Ruby Casey, Madelyn Dougherty, Ava Mirelez, Julia Moore and Alyssa Szarlacki have all played their first minutes as Mustangs.

New Year, New Team

On top of a new head coach, the Mustangs boast 14 newcomers this season — eight transfers and six freshmen.
Cal Poly returns 12 letterwinners and three All-Big West Honorable Mention selections from last year’s team — senior forward Jessie Halladay, senior midfielder Sophia Minnite and junior forward Annika Smith.

Experienced Transfers

The eight transfers the Mustangs added over the offseason have combined for 15,646 minutes played, 209 appearances and 174 starts across their collegiate careers.
Six of the eight transfers are California natives with half of the players transferring from schools within the state of California.
The transfers: forward Shelby Runje (University of Washington/Issaquah, WA), midfielders Ruby Casey (Miami University, Ohio/Orange, CA), Madelyn Dougherty (Sacramento State/Kula, HI) and Julia Moore (Long Beach State/Santa Cruz, CA), defenders Ava Mirelez (Cal State Fullerton/Clovis, CA), Michelle Pham (San Francisco State/Garden Grove, CA) and Ally Thomas (Ole Miss/Newport Beach, CA) and goalkeeper Alyssa Szarlacki (Nevada/San Jose, CA).
Thoughts from coach Silva on the incoming transfers: “As a staff, we made the decision this offseason to fill a couple of positions that we believed required more depth, quality, and experience for us to be able to compete for a Big West Championship this fall. Players with great character, college playing experience and coming from environments where winning is ingrained in the culture were some of the most important traits we set out to add to our locker room.”

Firepower Upfront

Senior Jessie Halladay and junior Annika Smith are the two centerpieces to Cal Poly’s attach.
The duo was the Mustangs’ top two point getters a year ago, combining for nine goals, three assists and 21 points.
Halladay was one of 11 players selected to the All-Big West Preseason Coaches Team, earning preseason accolades for the first time in her career. The Los Gatos native has led the Mustangs in points each of the last two seasons, earning All-Big West Honorable Mention recognition a year ago after tallying four goals and three assists across 16 appearances. Across her Cal Poly career, Halladay has recorded 16 goals and nine assists across 48 appearances and 24 starts.
Smith led the team in goals last season with five, tied for the seventh most in the Big West. She appeared in all 19 matches, earning a start in 18 of them en route to earning All-Big West accolades for the second straight season. The Scottsdale, Arizona native has registered 16 goals and six assists during her Mustang career across 54 appearances and 52 starts.

Leading the Stampede

Seniors Jessie Halladay and Camryn Penn, and redshirt junior Sophia Minnite are the team’s three captains this season.
The experienced trio has combined for 174 appearances and 127 starts across their Cal Poly careers.

The Silva Era

Bernardo Silva was named the second head coach in the history of the Cal Poly women’s soccer program in December 2024.
Silva previously served as an assistant coach on the Cal Poly staff from 2013-16 under the guidance of legendary coach Alex Crozier, who retired at the conclusion of the 2024 season after serving as the program’s head coach for 33 years.
Silva arrives in San Luis Obispo after spending the last two seasons as the head coach at Cal State Bakersfield (2023-24). In 2024, Silva helped CSUB women’s soccer become the first team in the school’s history to reach a Big West Championship final since the institution joined the conference. Under Silva’s leadership, the Roadrunners set Big West program records for conference points, victories, goals scored, fewest goals conceded and All-Big West honorees. Silva also helped the Roadrunners achieve their longest unbeaten streak in program history and highest finish ever in the Big West regular season standings.

Up Next!

Following this week’s road contests, Cal Poly returns home next week to host its final two home matches of the season — Thursday, Oct. 23 at 6 p.m. against UC Riverside and Sunday, Oct. 26 at noon against CSUN.

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