Cal Poly Women's Soccer Set to Face BYU in Home Opener

Monday, August 18

San Luis Obispo, CA

6 P.M.

BYU

Tickets

Women's Soccer Huddle, San Francisco, 080625

Photo by: Eyasu Betwos

Cal Poly Women's Soccer Set to Face BYU in Home Opener

8/17/2025 12:00:00 PM | Women's Soccer

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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Fresh off a season-opening draw, the Cal Poly women’s soccer team hosts its 2025 home opener at 6 p.m. Monday against perennial powerhouse BYU.

Monday’s match 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 come out and support the Mustangs for a discounted price. 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 $20. Scarves will be sold at the match as well as part of a new tradition of "Raising Your Scarf" during all Cal Poly men’s and women’s soccer home matches.

Monday’s home opener will mark the start of three matches in seven days for the Mustangs. Cal Poly travels to Fresno State on Thursday for a 7 p.m. showdown with the Bulldogs before returning home on Sunday, Aug. 24, to host Pacific at 1 p.m.

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Monday's match will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with Max Kelton on the call. 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 the match.

Scouting Report: BYU

Monday, 6 p.m. at Spanos Stadium
Monday’s match will mark the sixth all-time meeting between the Mustangs and Cougars and the first since Cal Poly earned a 1-1 draw against No. 6 BYU on Sept. 24, 2015, at Spanos Stadium.
Cal Poly is seeking its first win over BYU on Monday, with the Cougars leading the all-time series 4-0-1.
BYU received 12 votes in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason National Poll after advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the seventh consecutive season a year ago.
The Cougars opened their season on Thursday with a 3-1 victory over No. 24 Minnesota on the road. In the match, junior captain Avery Frischknecht was assessed a red card in the 31st minute and the Cougars played the remainder of the contest with just 10 players. Despite being shorthanded and falling behind 1-0 in the first half, BYU scored three second-half goals to storm past the Gophers.
Freshmen Mia Lopez, Mia Goettsche and Sophie Sivulich all scored their first career goals for BYU in the win over Minnesota.
BYU has advanced to the NCAA semifinals two of the last four years, making it to the 2021 National Championship match where they came up short to Florida State in penalties, 4-3.

A Look Back at the Opener

Cal Poly took three separate one goal leads in its season opener at San Diego on Thursday, but the Toreros responded each time to force the match to end in a 3-3 draw.
The three goals were the Mustangs most in a season opener since opening the 2013 season with a 3-0 home victory over Loyola Marymount.
Senior captain Jessie Halladay led the way, netting a brace to secure her first career multi-goal match.
In her first career appearance and start as a Mustang, freshman Farra Franklin headed in a corner kick sent in by sophomore Kiki Vostermans in the 51st minute for her first collegiate goal.
Graduate student Madelyn Dougherty registered her first point as a Mustang, assisting on Halladay’s second goal in the 80th minute by way of a perfect corner kick played into the box. A three-year starter at Sacramento State the last three years, Dougherty helped the Hornets capture their first Big Sky Championship in 14 years in 2024 and advance to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in school history.
Halladay scored a go-ahead goal 1:14 after San Diego equalized the match at 2-2 at 77:49 in the match, the third quickest go-ahead goal following an equalizer in program history.
Vostermans registered her fifth career assist in the match. Last year as a true freshman, she led the Mustangs in assists with four.

Mustang Debuts

Seven players made their first appearance in a Cal Poly uniform during the season opener. Freshmen Addie Crosno, Farra Franklin and Sam Walker all made their collegiate debuts, while transfers Ruby Casey, Madelyn Dougherty, Ava Mirelez and Alyssa Szarlacki all appeared in their first match as Mustangs.

Full Ninety

Seniors Brennan Cole and Camryn Penn on the backline were the only field players that never came off the field in Cal Poly’s season opener.

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 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. Across her Cal Poly career, Halladay has recorded 11 goals and seven assists across 36 appearances and 12 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 40 appearances and 38 starts.

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 134 appearances and 88 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!

After its home opener, Cal Poly heads to Fresno State on Thursday for a 7 p.m. match before returning to Spanos on Sunday, Aug. 24, to host Pacific at 1 p.m. You can purchase tickets to the Pacific match HERE.

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