Cal Poly Women's Soccer Adds 4 More Transfers to Round Out 2026 Roster
7/8/2026 4:30:00 PM | Women's Soccer
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — The Cal Poly women’s soccer program recently rounded out its 2026 roster with the addition of four more transfers as the team looks to defend its Big West Championship crown this fall.
All four transfers are California natives and the group is made up of two forwards (Zoe Minnery and Isis Salazar-Ortega) and a pair of midfielders (Izzy Sawyers and Miah Thomas). Three of the transfers come from Division I universities, including two from Cal State Bakersfield. The quartet has combined for 112 appearances, 69 starts, 63 points and 28 goals across their collegiate careers so far.
The four transfers join the five mid-year transfers that were added to the Mustangs’ roster during the winter and spring — forwards Sam Liaty (Tarleton State) and Kate Zimmerman (San Francisco), midfielder Koko Harris (Eastern Washington) and defenders Mya Clarke (Cal State Bakersfield) and Maddy Cole (Cal State Bakersfield). Six incoming freshmen are also slated to join the team next week when Cal Poly opens preseason training camp on Wednesday, July 15 — forward Madison Lujan (Davis, CA), midfielder Delaney Franklin (North Fork, CA), defenders Kate Nunes (Salinas, CA), Suna Roberts (Torrance, CA) and Nina Souto (Rocklin, CA), and goalkeeper Alyssa Lopez (Windsor, CA).
After the addition of five mid-year transfers back in January, we felt that we still needed to strengthen a couple of positions going into a year where the ambition is to bring the 15th Big West title to our program. These four players complete a class of nine transfers that we are all very familiar with as a coaching staff through either coaching them and/or recruiting them in the past. These young women are all incredible people, winners who fit our Cal Poly 2.0 brand, and loaded with minutes and experience that will add perspective and maturity to our locker-room.Bernardo Silva, Cal Poly Women's Soccer Head Coach
Isis Salazar-Ortega (F)
Junior / Huntington Beach, CA / Cal State Bakersfield
A 2025 All-Big West Honorable Mention selection, Salazar-Ortega was an integral part of Cal State Bakersfield’s attack the past two years, compiling seven goals and two assists across 1,894 minutes, 42 appearances and 17 starts.
Salazar-Ortega finished second on the team in points for the Roadrunners this past season, racking up four goals, two assists and 24 shots (15 on frame) across 964 minutes, and burying the game winner in the 54th minute of a 2-1 home victory over Long Beach State. As a true freshman in 2024, Salazar-Ortega played a key role in CSUB’s run to the Big West Championship match, netting three goals across 23 appearances and 10 starts, including scoring the game-winner in a 1-0 Big West Opening Round win at UC Irvine and burying the equalizer in the 65th minute of a 2-2 draw with UC Santa Barbara in the conference championship match.
A five-sport athlete at Ocean View High (Huntington Beach, CA), Salazar-Ortega was a two-time league MVP for the Seahawks, leading the team to three league titles and setting school records for career goals (129), goals in a season (46) and goals in a game (six). She played club for Slammers FC and earned First Team All-League honors. She plans on majoring in business at Cal Poly with a concentration in marketing.
Thoughts from Coach Silva: “Isis is a dynamic forward with a forward-thinking style and an innate ability to score goals. She will fit right in with our vertical brand of soccer, and will without a doubt entertain our community and fans.”
Miah Thomas (MF)
Junior / Upland, CA / Cal State Bakersfield
Thomas started in 18 of CSUB’s 19 matches this past season, racking up 1,388 minutes, a goal and an assist and 18 shots, and playing every minute in five of six matches to end the season. A force in the midfield, Thomas secured a spot on the Big West All-Freshman Team in 2024, netting two goals across 17 appearances, 11 starts and 851 minutes, and burying her first career game winner in a 2-1 victory at UC Davis.
A 2024 Upland High grad, Thomas played every minute during her four-year career with the Highlanders, earning All-League First Team and MVP honors during her senior season. She played club for Legends FC and plans on pursuing a degree in public health at Cal Poly.
Thoughts from Coach Silva: “Miah is a fierce leader and an absolute rock in the center of the midfield. Her addition to the roster strengthens the heart of our team.”
Izzy Sawyers (MF)
Sophomore / San Clemente, CA / Oregon
A San Clemente native, Sawyers appeared in 11 matches during her freshman season at Oregon in 2025, playing a season-high 49 minutes in a 4-0 home victory over Weber State and recording her first career shot in a scoreless draw against Northwestern.
A 2025 San Juan Hills High grad, Sawyers was an offensive MVP, a team captain and an All-South Coast League Second Team selection during her time with the Stallions. Sawyers helped Slammers FC capture the Best of Best Surf Cup Championship in 2023 and she is the daughter of Julie Foudy, one of the most iconic players in American soccer history. Foudy led the U.S. Women’s National Team to FIFA World Cup titles in 1991 and 1999, and Olympic gold medals in 1996 and 2004.
Sawyers, who chose to transfer to Cal Poly because of the winning culture and great coaching staff, will major in business administration at Cal Poly.
Thoughts from Coach Silva: “Izzy is a player we recruited out of high school and the timing of her coming into our program couldn’t be any better. Her energy and smile are contagious, she is a gifted attacking playmaker with the proper balance of technical and athletic skills, and she grew up in a family that loves soccer.”
Zoe Minnery (F)
Sophomore / San Luis Obispo, CA / Santa Barbara City College
The only junior college transfer in Cal Poly’s group of nine transfers, Minnery was a goal-scoring machine in her lone season at Santa Barbara City College this past fall, tallying 18 goals, four assists and five game winners while starting in all 23 matches for the Vaqueros. The San Luis Obispo native earned the Western State Conference Offensive Player of the Year award and received SoCal All-Region Team honors while finishing fifth in the 3C2A in 2025 in goals scored.
A four-year letterwinner at San Luis Obispo High, Minnery was a two-time All-League First Team selection for the Tigers, racking up 25 goals and 17 assists during her career and helping the team win three Mountain League titles and advance to the CIF Division II SoCal Regional semifinals as a senior. Minnery, who played club for Central Coast United, plans on majoring in Kinesiology at Cal Poly. Her mother, Leah, played on the women’s soccer club team at Cal Poly in 1991.
Thoughts from Coach Silva: “Zoe was the last addition to complete our transfer class. Being a local player, we have been tracking Zoe’s career progress and development for the last two years and her performances at Santa Barbara City College convinced us to add her to the big puzzle we are building here at Cal Poly 2.0. She is going to add more firepower to our attack as she can play centrally and wide, and her ability to score goals and create chances for every team she plays for remains her biggest asset.”
