Cal Poly Women's Soccer Opens Season, New Era Thursday at San Diego

Thursday, August 14

San Diego, CA / Torero Stadium

7 P.M.

San Diego

Cal Poly Women's Soccer Team Huddle, San Francisco, 080625

Photo by: Eyasu Betwos

Cal Poly Women's Soccer Opens Season, New Era Thursday at San Diego

8/13/2025 8:00:00 PM | Women's Soccer

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SAN DIEGO, Calif. — The Cal Poly women’s soccer program officially kicks off a new era on Thursday when the Mustangs take on San Diego at 7 p.m. at Torero Stadium.

The 2025 season opener in San Diego will mark the first match for the Mustangs with first-year head coach Bernardo Silva at the helm. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+.

Following Thursday’s season opener, Cal Poly returns to San Luis Obispo on Monday, Aug. 18, to host its home opener at 6 p.m. against BYU, who has made it to the NCAA national semifinals twice in the last four years and is receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll. Monday’s contest at Mustang Memorial Field Presented by Dignity Health French Hospital will serve as the program’s Club Soccer Appreciation Night as local youth soccer clubs are encouraged to attend the match. A special Soccer Scarf Ticket Pack is available for the match, which includes a ticket to the match and a limited-edition Cal Poly Soccer Scarf for $25. Scarves will be sold at the match for $20 each as part of a new tradition of "Raising Your Scarf" during all Cal Poly men’s and women’s soccer home matches.

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Thursday's match will be broadcast live on ESPN+. You can find links to watch the match 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: San Diego

Thursday, 7 p.m. at Torero Stadium
The Toreros lead the all-time series 7-6-1, but Cal Poly won the last matchup on Sept. 22, 2022, in San Luis Obispo 1-0.
This is the first Mustangs’ first trip to USD since Sept. 8, 2019, when they lost 1-0.
San Diego posted a 3-11-5 overall record last year in head coach Greg LaPorte’s first season at the helm and a 1-7-2 mark in West Coast Conference play.
Key returners for the Toreros include 2024 points and goals leader Mikayla Abrenica, 2024 WCC All-Freshman recipient Ella Callanan, and minutes leaders Elise Medrano and Kate Sealy.
USD added a pair of impact transfers over the offseason. Grad transfer midfielder Abigail Colton spent the last four years at Wake Forest, playing in all 24 matches this past season and helping the Demon Deacons reach the NCAA National Championship match. Senior defender Emma Gonzalez joins the Toreros after spending three years at UC Riverside.

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.”
A three-year starter and team captain for Sacramento State, Dougherty helped the Hornets capture their first Big Sky Championship in 14 years last season and advance to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in school history.
A two-time All-Big West honoree and three-year starter at Long Beach State, Moore tallied eight goals and five assists across 56 starts during her Beach career. Last year she made 15 starts for LBSU before suffering a season-ending injury.

Firepower Upfront

Senior Jessie Halladay and junior Annika Smith are set to lead the Mustang attack this season.
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. In 2024, she converted all three of her penalty kick attempts and led the team in shots (39), averaging the fifth most shots per match in the Big West. Across her Cal Poly career, Halladay has recorded nine goals, seven assists and 71 shots across 35 appearances and 11 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 nine goals and three assists during her Mustang career across 39 appearances, 37 starts and over 2,200 minutes played.

Leading the Stampede

Seniors Jessie Halladay and Camryn Penn, and redshirt junior Sophia Minnite will serve as the team’s three captains this season.
The experienced trio has combined for 8,399 minutes played, 131 appearances and 85 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.

Looking Ahead

After its season opener Thursday, Cal Poly hosts BYU on Monday, Aug. 18, to kick off a stretch of three matches in seven days for the Mustangs. Cal Poly heads to Fresno State on Thursday, Aug. 21, and hosts Pacific on Sunday, Aug. 24.

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