Cal Poly Heads to Northridge to Battle Titans in Big West Championship Semifinals

Thursday, November 6

Northridge, CA / Matador Soccer Field

4 P.M.

No. 3 Seed Cal State Fullerton

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Team Huddle Pregame, Cal State Bakersfield, 100225

Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics

Cal Poly Heads to Northridge to Battle Titans in Big West Championship Semifinals

11/5/2025 9:40:00 AM | Women's Soccer

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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — The journey to a Big West Championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament begins Thursday for the Cal Poly women’s soccer team when the second-seeded Mustangs battle No. 3 seed Cal State Fullerton at 4 p.m. in the Big West semifinals at Matador Soccer Field in Northridge.

The winner will advance to the Big West Championship match at 1 p.m. Sunday at the same site and face either No. 1 seed CSUN or No. 5 seed UC Santa Barbara, who play each other at 7 p.m. Thursday in the other semifinal.

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Thursday’s Big West semifinal match will be streamed live on ESPN+. You can find links to watch the match 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 the match.

The Stakes

The Mustangs are seeking their 10th Big West Championship appearance and third in their last five seasons when they take on the Titans on Thursday. CSUN won the Big West regular season title by 1 point over the Mustangs, earning them the right to host the semifinals and championship match in the conference tournament.

Scouting Report: Cal State Fullerton

The Titans advanced to the Big West semifinals with a 1-0 home victory over No. 6 seed Cal State Bakersfield in the First Round of the Big West Championship on Sunday. An own goal by the Roadrunners with 1:24 left in regulation was the difference.
CSUF posted the exact same record in Big West regular season play as the Mustangs (6-2-2), but Cal Poly earned the head-to-head tiebreaker for the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye by way of defeating the Titans 2-0 in their regular season matchup on Oct. 12 in San Luis Obispo.
In that regular season match, junior Annika Smith netted her third career brace and fourth multi-goal game as a Mustang and Cal Poly held the Titans to just three shots in the match, including just one on goal. The victory kickstarted a five-match unbeaten streak to end the regular season for the Mustangs.
Cal Poly leads the all-time series with CSUF 18-13-6.
This is the eighth meeting all-time between the Mustangs and Titans in the Big West tournament and first since Cal Poly secured a 2-0 win over Fullerton in the 2021 semifinals hosted by UC Irvine. The Mustangs lead the all-time series in the conference tournament 4-1-2.
The Titans carry an impressive 14-2-3 overall record on the season into Thursday’s semifinal match.
CSUF had 10 players receive All-Big West recognition, including three First Team honorees — goalkeeper Isaac Ranson, forward Isabella Cruz and midfielder Camryn Cruz.
Isabella Cruz leads the Big West in points this season with seven goals and five assists, and Isabella and Camryn have combined for 13 goals on the year. Each player has netted a Big West leading five game-winning goals this season.
Ranson was named the Big West Goalkeeper of the Year for the second time. Ranson has allowed just seven goals this season across 19 matches, posting 13 shutouts and recording 63 saves and a .900 save percentage.

Cal Poly in the Postseason

The Mustangs have emerged victorious in nine of their 14 Big West semifinal appearances all-time (9-2-3), losing just twice (2012, 2022) and never advancing to the championship match on penalties, drawing in 2008, 2013 and 2014. The Mustangs have qualified for 15 of the 24 Big West tournaments, capturing all the glory in 1996, 2003 and 2004. Cal Poly missed the Big West postseason a year ago, but has qualified for the semifinals four out of the last five seasons.

Overtime Rules

In postseason play and during the Big West Championship, if a game is tied after 90 minutes of regulation, two 10-minute, golden goal overtime periods will be played, meaning if either team scores during one of the overtime periods the match is immediately over at that point. If the match is still tied after the two overtime periods, penalties will determine a winner. Cal Poly has been involved in five penalty shootouts all-time — the last being in the 2014 Big West semifinals against Long Beach State — and come up short in each one of them by one penalty each time.

Rested & Riding High

Cal Poly carries a five-match unbeaten streak (4-0-1) into Thursday’s Big West semifinal, its longest entering postseason play since riding a seven-match unbeaten run (5-0-2) into the 2022 conference tournament.
Thursday’s Big West semifinal will mark the Mustangs first match since earning a 1-1 draw at home to CSUN on Oct. 26 to end the regular season. The result allowed Cal Poly to finish the season unbeaten at home (3-0-6) for just the fifth time in program history and the first time in 21 years.
The Mustangs had a chance to secure their 10th outright Big West regular season title and the top seed in the Big West Championships with a win over CSUN in their regular season finale.
The Mustangs went unbeaten in nonconference play (2-0-7) for the first time in program history this fall, starting the season on a nine-match unbeaten streak — tied for the longest unbeaten streak to open a season in program history and it’s the team’s longest overall since starting the 2005 season 6-0-3.
Cal Poly’s nine draws this season are currently tied with Bowling Green for the second most in Division 1 this season. The Division I single-season record is 10, which Stephen F. Austin has already matched this fall (7-3-10).

Six Mustangs Earn All-Big West Honors

Six Mustangs secured All-Big West honors when the conference office announced end-of-season awards this past Saturday, marking the fifth straight season that at least five Mustangs have received All-Big West praise.
Senior defender Brennan Cole was crowned the Big West Defensive Player of the Year and junior Annika Smith was named the Big West Offensive Player of the Year, marking the first time since 2022 that Cal Poly has had multiple major award winners.
The Mustangs earned three All-Big West First Team honorees in Cole, Smith and graduate student midfielder Madelyn Dougherty. Senior forward Jessie Halladay grabbed an All-Big West Second Team selection, senior defender Camryn Penn garnered All-Big West Honorable Mention praise and redshirt freshman goalkeeper Shannon Porubski was named to the Big West All-Freshman Team.

The Quick 90

The Mustangs will lean heavily on their three offensive stars as they enter postseason play and look to make a run — graduate student midfielder Madelyn Dougherty, senior Jessie Halladay and junior Annika Smith. The trio has combined to score 19 out of Cal Poly’s 29 total goals this season and dished out 15 assists. Halladay and Smith are tied for the Big West lead in goals entering the postseason with seven each, while Dougherty and Halladay are tied for second in the conference in points with 18. Dougherty’s Big West leading eight assists are tied for the fifth most assists in a single season by a Mustang in program history.
Cal Poly’s defense has been just as formidable this season, posting eight shutouts. All-Big West Freshman Team selection Shannon Porubski has set the stone with seven clean sheets between the pipes, while senior center back Brennan Cole has been the anchor on the back line all season long, making crucial tackles in key moments.

The Facts

Cal Poly is 8-0-5 when they score first in a match this season. They are 0-2-2 when they score second and have played to two scoreless draws this season.
Halladay is currently tied with Ashley Vallis (2005-08) for 14th all-time in career points at Cal Poly with 43.
With 74 career starts, senior outside back Camryn Penn is currently No. 6 all-time in Cal Poly history.
Penn and junior forward Annika Smith have started in 28 consecutive matches for the Mustangs.
Penn, Smith, graduate student Madelyn Dougherty and senior Brennan Cole are the only players that have started in all 19 matches this season.
Cole leads the Mustangs in minutes played this season (1,664). She has played every minute in 15 of 19 matches.

Cal Poly Debuts

Through 19 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 11 assists across 52 appearances and 28 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 58 appearances and 56 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 186 appearances and 139 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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