7-7-5, 4-4-3
Sacramento State
6-8-5, 2-6-3
| Team | 1 | 2 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sacramento St. | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Cal Poly | 2 | 1 | 3 |
10/31/2026 7:00:00 PM | Women's Soccer
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Junior Isis Salazar-Ortega recorded the ninth hat trick in program history and freshman Kate Nunes tied a program record with three assists to propel the Cal Poly women’s soccer team into the Big West tournament with a 3-1 victory over Sacramento State on Saturday in its regular season finale.
“We are in and what a year it has been for our team,” head coach Bernardo Silva said after the match. “To accomplish this with the circumstances, the injuries, the challenges we faced, it’s been a challenging climb up the mountain, but we’ve always said that if the process is challenging the victory is that much sweeter, and that’s what happened today.”
With Saturday’s win over the Hornets, Cal Poly (7-7-5) finished with 15 points (4-4-3 in conference) in the final Big West regular season standings, putting them in a tie with CSUN for fifth place. The Mustangs earned the tiebreaker over the Matadors based on goal differential in conference games, allowing them to secure the fifth seed in the six-team Big West Championship. Cal Poly will travel to California Baptist on Wednesday, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m. to battle the Lancers in the first round of the tournament as the Mustangs begin their pursuit to defend their Big West Championship.
After suffering back-to-back disappointing losses to UC Irvine and UC Riverside, Cal Poly’s postseason fate was in question on the final day of the regular season, but the Mustangs stepped up with the pressure on to book a ticket to the conference tournament for the second straight year.
Salazar-Ortega and Nunes had quite the day, connecting on all three goals Cal Poly scored. The first came in the 22nd minute when Nunes settled a ball played into the box by junior Lilly Cole, and pushed a pass forward to Salazar-Ortega, who was standing right at the penalty spot. The Cal State Bakersfield transfer got just enough of the ball to one time a shot into the bottom left post.
Just 2:02 later, Salazar-Ortega found the back of the net again, heading home a shot off the crossbar from Nunes to secure the first-half brace and give Cal Poly a 2-0 lead heading into halftime.
In the 64th minute, Nunes and Salazar-Ortega completed the trifecta. From the left side, sent a dangerous cross right in front of the goal that Salazar-Ortega poked home with her right foot. The goal gave Salazar-Ortega the ninth hat trick in program history and the first since Annika Smith on Oct. 1, 2023, against UC Riverside. She is the seventh player in program history to record a hat track, and she now has four goals on the year and 11 in her collegiate career.
“I’m so proud of her,” Silva said about Salazar-Ortega. “She’s made for big games, she’s a big-time player and she’s done it all her career.”
Nunes’ three assists tied a program record, matching five other Mustangs that achieved the feat during a match.
Sacramento State (6-8-5, 2-6-3 BW) scored in the 84th minute, but a Cal Poly victory was never in jeopardy as the Mustangs locked things down to earn a spot in the postseason.
The winner of Wednesday’s Big West Championship First Round match at CBU Soccer Stadium will advance to face No. 1 seed and regular season champion Utah Valley in the semifinals at 5 p.m. PT on Saturday, Nov. 7, in Orem, Utah.
“Everybody is 0-0 now,” Silva said, “… and we’re not done yet, so we got to go get the next one.”
Team Stats
Isis Salazar-Ortega (4)
Assisted By: Kate Nunes
GOAL by CP Salazar-Ortega, Isis Assist by Nunes, Kate.
21:31
Isis Salazar-Ortega (4)
Assisted By: Kate Nunes
GOAL by CP Salazar-Ortega, Isis Assist by Nunes, Kate.
23:33
Isis Salazar-Ortega (4)
Assisted By: Kate Nunes
GOAL by CP Salazar-Ortega, Isis Assist by Nunes, Kate.
63:03
Lexi Schroeder (3)
GOAL by SAC Schroeder, Lexi.
83:29
