7-2-8, 5-2-1
UC Irvine
7-4-5, 4-2-1
Cal Poly Caps Off Perfect Road Trip with Victory at UC Irvine
10/19/2025 8:00:00 PM | Women's Soccer
IRVINE, Calif. — Midfielder Madelyn Dougherty netted the game-winner for the second straight match as the Cal Poly women’s soccer team secured its third consecutive victory on Sunday, downing UC Irvine 2-1 at Anteater Stadium.
With the win, Cal Poly (7-2-8, 5-2-1 Big West) moved into sole possession of second place in the Big West standings with 16 points, 1 point behind first-place CSUN and 3 points clear of the Anteaters, Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Bakersfield, who are all tied for third place. The Mustangs have two matches remaining in the regular season, while the Matadors have three.
“I think we have found ourselves in a really good position and I think we’re growing in confidence as a group,” head coach Bernardo Silva said after the match, “… we’re really proud of them for finding a way to win against a really good team and to finish off a week with 6 points is just massive, it speaks to their resilience and sisterhood.”
Sunday’s win at UC Irvine coupled with Thursday’s 1-0 triumph at Long Beach State allowed Cal Poly to earn road victories over those two opponents in the same season for the first time since 2014.
“It was a great win on the road,” captain and redshirt junior midfielder Sophia Minnite said. “We knew that Irvine was going to be gritty, and we had to match it and even elevate our grittiness … it shows the Big West that we can do it at home or on the road. Make us go anywhere and we’ll win.”
The first goal of the match came in the 28th minute by way of an own goal. Senior defender Brennan Cole sent a free kick from midfield into the box and a UC Irvine defender headed the ball and inadvertently sent it into the back of the net.
Things appeared to be going the Mustangs way early, but then less than 10 minutes after Cal Poly took a 1-0 lead the Anteaters were awarded a penalty kick. Mia Colombini stepped up and converted the penalty to level the match at 1-1 in the 37th minute.
But Cal Poly was quick to respond, stealing the momentum of the match right back. Nearly three minutes after UC Irvine’s goal, Minnite played a ball through the midfield up to redshirt freshman forward Ashley Brewer, who threaded a pass to Dougherty on the left side. The graduate student dribbled the ball forward to just inside the penalty box and fired a shot past the UC Irvine goalkeeper and to the right bottom corner of the net.
The goal was Dougherty’s fifth of the season and allowed her to move into a tie with teammates Jessie Halladay and Annika Smith for the Big West lead in points with 17. Brewer recorded her first collegiate point with an assist on the tally, while Minnite secured her first point of the season and the third assist of her career.
The Mustangs carried that 2-1 advantage into halftime and did an excellent job of defending it in the second half. In the 57th minute, the Anteaters earned arguably their best opportunity of the match when a shot sent rolling toward net following a corner kick was cleared off the goal line by redshirt sophomore defender Siena Urzua and sophomore defender Ava Mirelez. The effort by the two players proved to be pivotal as Cal Poly fended off a feisty UC Irvine squad down the stretch to earn its fifth Big West victory of the season.
Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Shannon Porubski finished with two saves for the Mustangs, while Cole, Minnite, Urzua and freshman Sam Walker never stepped off the pitch in the match.
“We talked about going in that Sunday games are when your culture as a program really gets tested, your sisterhood gets tested, your friendship gets tested and we passed the test,” Silva said. “I think our girls were fantastic.”
Cal Poly returns home this week to host its final two matches of the regular season. The Mustangs face UC Riverside first at 7 p.m. Thursday before capping their week at Spanos with a showdown against CSUN at noon next Sunday, Oct. 26.
Team Stats
0
set piece from midfield, headed along by defender
27:47
Mia Colombini (5)
foul in box, converted inside right post
36:22
Madelyn Dougherty (5)
Assisted By: Ashley Brewer , Sophia Minnite
up middle of field, feed outside, shot from left wing inside far post
39:06
