Women's Soccer Hosts UCR, CSUN Looking to Secure Postseason Berth

Thursday, October 23

San Luis Obispo, CA

7 P.M.

UC Riverside

Tickets

Bailey Bracha-Siena Urzua, Cal State Fullerton, 101225

Photo by: Chloe Briote-Johnson

Women's Soccer Hosts UCR, CSUN Looking to Secure Postseason Berth

10/23/2025 9:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Riding a three-match winning streak, the Cal Poly women’s soccer team returns to Spanos this week to host its final two regular season matches. The Mustangs will be looking to lock up a spot in the six-team Big West tournament and a potential first round bye.

Cal Poly (7-2-8, 5-2-1 Big West) hosts UC Riverside (0-13-2, 0-6-1 BW) first at 7 p.m. Thursday before welcoming first-place CSUN (7-6-3, 5-0-2 BW) to San Luis Obispo on Sunday at noon for its regular season finale. Tickets to both matches can be found above and on the Cal Poly women’s soccer schedule page, and both contests will be streamed live on ESPN+. Thursday’s match is Greek Night and the final AYSO Appreciation Night of the season.

Follow Cal Poly Women’s Soccer!

The two matches this week will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Max Kelton and Jonathan Sze on the call for both. You can find links to watch both matches and follow the 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.

Mustangs Have Everything to Play For

Entering its final two matches of the regular season, Cal Poly (7-2-8 overall, 5-2-1 Big West) currently sits in sole possession of second place in the Big West standings at 16 points. They trail first-place CSUN, who they host Sunday, by just 1 point and are currently 3 points clear of Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine and Cal State Bakersfield, who are all tied for third place at 13 points. Most of the other teams in the Big West still have three matches left to play this season.
With a victory in one of their final two matches, Cal Poly would lock up a berth in the six-team Big West Championship.
With two wins this week, the Mustangs would put themselves in a great position to receive a bye from the opening round of the tournament.

Scouting Report: UC Riverside

7 p.m. Thursday at Mustang Memorial Field Presented by Dignity Health French Hospital at Alex G. Spanos Stadium
The Mustangs lead the all-time series with the Highlanders 13-5-5.
Last year, Cal Poly earned a 2-0 victory in Riverside. The Mustangs are unbeaten in their last six matches against UCR (5-0-1).
UC Riverside is currently tied for last place in the Big West standings with a 0-6-1 conference record.
The Highlanders are winless on the season (0-13-2) and have a -34 goal differential on the season, scoring five and allowing 39.

Scouting Report: CSUN

Noon Sunday at Mustang Memorial Field Presented by Dignity Health French Hospital at Alex G. Spanos Stadium
Cal Poly earned a 2-0 victory in Northridge a year ago and leads the all-time series with the Matadors 12-9-3.
The Mustangs have won four consecutive matches against CSUN with their last loss coming on Oct. 10, 2019 in Northridge 2-0.
Entering Thursday, CSUN is currently on a school record seven-match shutout streak. Thanks to that, the Matadors are in first place in the Big West table with three matches left in their season and are still unbeaten in conference play (5-0-2).
CSUN travels to sixth-place UC Santa Barbara at 7 p.m. Thursday before facing the Mustangs on Sunday.
The Matadors are led by redshirt senior goalkeeper Riley Liebsack. She has recorded nine shutouts this season — tied for the most in the Big West — and is second in the conference in save percentage (.847) and third in goals against average (.688).

Riding High

Cal Poly is fresh off a stellar Southern California road trip that saw them earn a 1-0 victory over Long Beach State and a 2-1 win over UC Irvine. It’s the first time since 2014 that the Mustangs have beaten both LBSU and UCI on the road in the same season.

Big West Weekly Praise

After scoring two goals and netting the game winner in both victories this past week, graduate student midfielder Madelyn Dougherty was crowned the Big West Offensive Player of the Week for the first time in her career. on Monday. This is the fourth time a Mustang has won the award this season.
Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Shannon Porubski was named the Big West Freshman of the Week for the second straight week and the fourth time this season on Monday after recording her sixth clean sheet of the year and allowing just one goal across Cal Poly’s two victories in Southern California.

The Mustang Trio

Cal Poly currently has the top three point scorers in the Big West this season as Dougherty, senior forward Jessie Halladay and junior forward Annika Smith are all tied for the conference lead with 17 points. Dougherty leads the Big West with seven assists this season, while Halladay and Smith are tied for the conference lead in goals with seven.

The Facts

Halladay is currently tied with Camille Lafaix (2019-22) for 15th all-time in career points at Cal Poly with 42.
With 72 career starts, senior outside back Camryn Penn is currently tied for fifth all-time in Cal Poly history.
Penn and junior Annika Smith have started in 26 consecutive matches for the Mustangs.
Penn, Smith, graduate student Madelyn Dougherty and senior Brennan Cole are the only players that have started in all 17 matches this season.
Cole leads the Mustangs in minutes played this season (1,484). She has played every minute in 13 of 17 matches.

Cal Poly Debuts

Through 17 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 attack.
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 10 assists across 50 appearances and 26 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 56 appearances and 54 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 180 appearances and 133 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.

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