STATS — THURSDAY
LIVESTREAM — SUNDAY
STATS — SUNDAY
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — The Cal Poly women’s soccer team continues its four-match road swing to open regular season action this week when the Mustangs travel to Los Angeles for a pair of matches.
First up is a match with No. 1 UCLA (1-0-0), the defending national champions, at 7 p.m. Thursday, then Cal Poly (0-0-1) will head about 10 miles further south on Sunday to face Loyola Marymount (0-2-0) at noon.
FOLLOW CAL POLY THIS WEEK: Thursday’s match at UCLA will be broadcast on Pac-12 Networks, while Sunday’s battle at LMU will be televised live on ESPN+. You can find links for live stats and both broadcasts above, and on the women’s soccer schedule page on GoPoly.com. Follow Cal Poly women’s soccer on X (@CPWomensSoccer) for live updates throughout both matches.
CAL POLY VERSUS UCLA: The Mustangs and Bruins last met on the pitch in the 2010 season opener on Aug. 22 in LA. UCLA, ranked No. 3 in the nation at the time, won that matchup and Cal Poly is 2-3 all-time against the Bruins and emerged victorious in the first two all-time meetings in 1994 and 1996.
SCOUTING UCLA: The Bruins (22-2-1 in 2022) opened their NCAA title defense with a 2-0 home victory over Georgia this past Thursday. Their contest with Portland scheduled for this past Sunday in LA was canceled due to inclement weather from Hurricane Hilary. The Bruins return eight starters from their national championship team, including defender Lilly Reale and forward Reilyn Turner. Reale is the defending Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and the 2022 College Cup’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player, helping the UCLA defense record a 0.55 goals against average a year ago and post 14 shutouts. Turner, the 2022 College Cup Most Outstanding Offensive Player, tied for the team-high in goals a year ago with 11 and has found the back of the net 32 times during her UCLA career. The Bruins have been ranked No. 1 in every United Soccer Coaches poll since Sept. 6, 2022.
FUN FACT: The last time Cal Poly faced the defending national champions and No. 1 ranked team in the nation was Sept. 13, 2018, at Stanford. Thursday will mark the fourth time in program history the Mustangs have faced the No. 1 team in the land.
SISTERS SQUARE OFF: Freshman Jaycee DeFazio’s older sister, Janae, is a redshirt senior on UCLA’s team.
CAL POLY VERSUS LMU: In the last meeting between the Mustangs and LMU, Cal Poly earned a commanding 3-0 home victory over the Lions to open the 2013 season. The Mustangs have won the last five meetings and are 9-1-0 all-time against LMU.
SCOUTING LMU: The Lions are still seeking their first win of the season after suffering a 2-0 defeat at UC Santa Barbara last Thursday and falling to No. 20 Georgetown 1-0 on Sunday at home. LMU hosts CSUN at 7 p.m. Thursday prior to their match with the Mustangs. A year ago, LMU posted a 3-8-6 overall record and a 1-8 mark in West Coast Conference play. The Lions return their top two goal scorers from last year’s squad — Alice Santen and Jennessa Groves. They both scored three times in 2022.
GOAL BARRAGE: In their final exhibition match Sunday at Mustang Memorial Field Presented by French Hospital, Cal Poly poured it on Division II Cal State Monterey Bay, defeating them 10-0 as nine different players found the back of the net.
IMMEDIATE IMPACT: Earlier this week, sophomore Jessie Halladay earned the first Mechanics Bank Cal Poly Student-Athlete of the Week award of the 2023-24 athletic year, scoring the Mustangs’ only goal in their 1-1 season-opening draw at Fresno State last Thursday, Aug. 17. It was the first collegiate goal and point for the Los Gatos native. Halladay played for LMU last season as a freshman before transferring to Cal Poly this spring.
CROSS IT LIEBS: Sophomore Emily Lieber, a 2022 All-Big West Freshman Team selection, assisted on Halladay’s season-opening goal, playing one of her patented crosses into the box from the right side. It was Lieber’s fifth career assist and seventh career point.
IT ALL STARTS WITH DEFENSE: Cal Poly was formidable defensively a year ago, recording its most clean sheets in a season (10) since 2009 and posting a program-record seven shutouts in Big West play. That defensive prowess led the Mustangs to their first outright Big West regular season championship since 2013 and the right to host the Big West Championships as the No. 1 seed. Three members of the Mustangs’ 2022 backline are back this fall — juniors Emma Brown and Aynsley Conner and sophomore Camryn Penn. Brown and Conner, Cal Poly’s two center-backs, were the only two field players to never come off the pitch in the 2023 season opener. Brown received All-Big West First Team and United Soccer Coaches All-West Region Third Team honors a year ago, while Penn was named to the Big West All-Freshman Team. Brown also was selected to the 12-player All-Big West Preseason Coaches Team this year.
HOLDING DOWN THE NET: Junior Mackenzie Samuel made a crucial save in the 87th-minute of the season opener to keep the match with the Bulldogs level at 1-1. The 2022 Big West Goalkeeper of the Year posted nine clean sheets a year ago, tied for the third most in a season in program history, and secured a program-record seven shutouts in Big West play.
NEW FACES: The Mustangs return 15 letterwinners and four All-Big West honorees from their 2022 squad, but have 15 newcomers this spring — 12 freshmen and three transfers.
FIRST APPEARANCES: Five Mustangs made their collegiate debut in the season opener — redshirt freshman Sophia Minnite, and freshmen Bailey Bracha, Sophia Moness, Kasia Wolf and Siena Urzua.
UP NEXT: Cal Poly caps off its four-match road trip with a visit to Cal on Sunday, Sept. 3, at 4 p.m.
