Wednesday, November 4
Riverside, CA / CBU Soccer Stadium
7 P.M.
at
California Baptist
11/4/2026 9:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Riding high following a regular season finale victory to punch its ticket to the postseason, No. 5 seed Cal Poly looks to keep the momentum rolling when they battle No. 4 seed California Baptist in the First Round of the Big West Championship on Wednesday.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at CBU Soccer Stadium and the match will be streamed live on ESPN+. The defending Big West tournament champions, the Mustangs (7-7-5, 4-4-3 BW) will be looking to go back-to-back for just the second time in program history, the other time being 2003-04.
The winner of Wednesday’s First Round match will advance to the Big West Championship semifinals to face No. 1 seed and conference regular season champion Utah Valley at 5 p.m. PT Saturday in Orem, Utah.
- Wednesday’s Big West First Round 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 Lancers, who are in their first season as a member of the Big West, are 9-3-5 this year and went 4-3-4 in conference play during the regular season to finish in fourth in the Big West standings with 16 points.
- CBU had four players earn All-Big West honors on Tuesday with Mikayla O’Brien being named the Big West Goalkeeper of the Year, Taylor Held and Anja Jestrovic securing First Team selections and Jaelynn Hillenbrand grabbing a spot on the All-Rookie Team.
- Cal Baptist is unbeaten in its last five matches entering the tournament (3-0-2).
- CBU is 7-1-2 at home this season, tied with Cal State Fullerton for the best home record in the Big West. The Lancers have allowed just two goals at home all season, while scoring 13.
- Cal Poly won the regular season matchup 2-1 in San Luis Obispo on Sept. 23 in the Big West opener for both teams. A goal from junior Sam Liaty in the 69th minute was the difference as the Mustangs ended CBU’s six-match unbeaten streak to open the season and claim as the only team in Division I to not allow a goal at that point in the season.
- Cal Poly is 1-2-0 all-time against the Lancers and last traveled to CBU on Sept. 22, 2019, suffering a 4-2 defeat.
- Last year, the Mustangs defeated No. 3 seed Cal State Fullerton 1-0 in the Big West semifinals and took down No. 5 seed UC Santa Barbara 1-0 in the Big West Championship match to secure their fourth Big West tournament title all-time and their first in 21 years. Jessie Halladay, who now plays professionally for Racing Power FC in Portugal, scored the game-winning goal in both matches to help Cal Poly punch its ticket to the NCAA Division I Tournament for the sixth time in program history and first time since 2004.
- Since the conference tournament expanded to six teams, this is just the second time Cal Poly has played in the First Round, earning a 2-1 home victory over No. 6 seed Hawai’i in 2023.
- The Mustangs have qualified for 16 of the 25 Big West tournaments, capturing all the glory in 1996, 2003, 2004 and 2025. Cal Poly missed the Big West postseason in 2024, but has made it to the Big West semifinals four out of the last five seasons.
- 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.
- Facing essentially a win-and-in scenario in their regular season finale this past Saturday, Cal Poly came through when it mattered most, earning a 3-1 victory over Sacramento State to secure a spot in the postseason.
- Junior Isis Salazar-Ortega and freshman Kate Nunes led the way in the victory. Salazar-Ortega netted the ninth hat trick in program history across 64 minutes of game time and became the seventh Mustang to record a hat trick, while Nunes assisted on all three goals to match a program record for assists in a game.
- Junior Miah Thomas and freshman Kate Nunes both received All-Big West praise for their performances during the regular season, the conference office announced Tuesday.
- Thomas was named to the All-Big West Second Team while Nunes earned a spot on the 11-player All-Rookie Team.
- One of Cal Poly’s leaders in the midfield, Thomas has been instrumental to the team’s success this fall in her first season as a Mustang. The Cal State Bakersfield transfer has started in all 19 matches this season, playing every minute in nine matches — including seven straight to end the regular season — and totaling 1,542 minutes on the pitch, fourth most on the team. She leads the team in goals with six, tied for the seventh most in the conference, and in points with 13.
- Thomas has converted all four of her penalty kick attempts this season and her three game-winning goals are tied for the third most in the Big West. This is the second time the Upland, Calif. native has garnered All-Big West honors, earning a spot on the Big West All-Freshman Team in 2024 while with the Roadrunners.
- As a true freshman, Nunes has proven to be one of the Mustangs’ most important players this fall. The Salinas, Calif. native has started in all 19 matches for the Mustangs, racking up 1,377 minutes on the pitch — fifth most on the team. The Salinas, Calif. native scored her first career goal in a 2-0 victory over UC Santa Barbara on Oct. 21.
- Nunes leads the team with three assists and her 5 points are tied for the third most.
- 29 players have seen the field for the Mustangs this season with five starting in all 19 matches — senior Siena Urzua, juniors Miah Thomas, Mya Clarke and Shannon Porubski and freshman Kate Nunes.
- Goalkeeper Shannon Porubski has made 36 consecutive starts in net entering Wednesday’s match. She has five clean sheets this season and 14 in her career, one shy of seventh all-time in program history.
- Senior center back Siena Urzua leads the team in minutes played (1,688) and has played every minute in 16 of Cal Poly’s 19 matches, including eight straight to end the regular season.
- Urzua has started in 29 consecutive matches for the Mustangs.
- Senior Annika Smith, the 2025 Big West Offensive Player of the Year, enters Wednesday’s match tied for ninth in program history in career appearances (79) and tied for third in career starts (77). She has tallied 17 goals and nine assists during her Cal Poly career — including one goal and two assists this season — and her 43 career points are tied for 15th most in program history.
- Cal Poly has scored 20 goals this season and allowed just 17, third best in the conference and only trailing UC San Diego (16) and CBU (10).
- The Mustangs are unbeaten in matches this season (7-0-1) where they’ve scored the opening goal.
- Fifth-year Sophia Minnite, seniors Annika Smith and Siena Urzua, and juniors Miah Thomas and Ava Mirelez make up Cal Poly’s five captains this season.
Sunday, November 01
Thursday, October 22
Sunday, September 27
Thursday, September 24
