2023 Big West Conference women's soccer tournament
The 2023 Big West Conference women's soccer tournament was the postseason women's soccer tournament for the Big West Conference held from October 29 to November 5, 2023. The Semifinals and Final of the five-match tournament took place at Titan Stadium in Fullerton, California and the higher seed hosted First Round games. The six-team single-elimination tournament consisted of three rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The defending champions were the UC Irvine Anteaters.[2] The Anteaters successfully defended their title as the fifth seed, defeating Cal Poly 1–0 in the Final.[3][4] This was the fourth Big West tournament title for the UC Irvine program and the third for head coach Scott Juniper. UC Irvine and Juniper have now one three straight Big West Tournaments.[5] As tournament champions, UC Irvine earned the Big West's automatic berth into the 2023 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament.
| 2023 Big West Conference women's soccer tournament | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classification | Division I | ||||
| Teams | 6 | ||||
| Matches | 5 | ||||
| Attendance | 3,001 | ||||
| Site | Titan Stadium (Semifinals & Final) Fullerton, California | ||||
| Champions | UC Irvine (4th title) | ||||
| Winning coach | Scott Juniper (3rd title) | ||||
| MVP | Emilie Castagna[1] (UC Irvine) | ||||
| Broadcast | ESPN+ | ||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | T | PCT | W | L | T | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cal State Fullerton † | 6 | – | 1 | – | 3 | .750 | 8 | – | 5 | – | 7 | .575 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Davis | 6 | – | 2 | – | 2 | .700 | 10 | – | 7 | – | 2 | .579 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cal Poly | 6 | – | 3 | – | 1 | .650 | 10 | – | 8 | – | 3 | .548 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Long Beach State | 5 | – | 3 | – | 2 | .600 | 10 | – | 6 | – | 4 | .600 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC San Diego | 4 | – | 3 | – | 3 | .550 | 5 | – | 8 | – | 5 | .417 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 20 UC Irvine ‡y | 3 | – | 3 | – | 4 | .500 | 10 | – | 8 | – | 6 | .542 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hawaii | 4 | – | 5 | – | 1 | .450 | 5 | – | 8 | – | 3 | .406 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cal State Bakersfield | 2 | – | 5 | – | 3 | .350 | 3 | – | 10 | – | 4 | .294 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Riverside | 2 | – | 5 | – | 3 | .350 | 2 | – | 10 | – | 7 | .289 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Santa Barbara | 2 | – | 6 | – | 2 | .300 | 4 | – | 8 | – | 7 | .395 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cal State Northridge | 1 | – | 5 | – | 4 | .300 | 1 | – | 13 | – | 5 | .184 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † – Conference champion ‡ – 2023 Big West Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of December 5, 2023 Rankings from United Soccer Coaches Poll Source: The Big West Conference | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Seeding
The top six teams in the regular season earned a spot in the tournament and teams were seeded by regular season conference record. No tiebreakers were required as each team finished with a unique conference regular season record.[6]
| Seed | School | Conference Record | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cal State Fullerton | 6–1–3 | 21 |
| 2 | UC Davis | 6–2–2 | 20 |
| 3 | Cal Poly | 6–3–1 | 19 |
| 4 | Long Beach State | 5–3–2 | 17 |
| 5 | UC Irvine | 3–3–4 | 13 |
| 6 | Hawaii | 4–5–1 | 13 |
Bracket
Source:[7]
| First round Saturday, Oct. 29 | Semifinals Thursday, Nov. 2 | Final Sunday, Nov. 5 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Cal State Fullerton | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Long Beach State | 0 (1) | 5 | UC Irvine | 1 | |||||||||
| 5 | UC Irvine (pen.) | 0 (4) | 5 | UC Irvine | 1 | |||||||||
| 3 | Cal Poly | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | UC Davis | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Cal Poly | 2 | 3 | Cal Poly | 2 | |||||||||
| 6 | Hawaii | 1 | ||||||||||||
Schedule
Quarterfinals
| October 29 | #3 Cal Poly | 2–1 | #6 Hawaii | San Luis Obispo, CA |
| 2:00 p.m. PT |
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Report |
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Stadium: Mustang Memorial Field Attendance: 524 Referee: Adam Zarrin Assistant referees: Chris Gomez Angeles Pineda Fourth official: Faith Thurman |
| October 29 | #4 Long Beach State | 0–0 (a.e.t.) (1–4 p) | #5 UC Irvine | Long Beach, CA |
| 6:00 p.m. PT |
|
Report | Stadium: George Allen Field Attendance: 386 Referee: Brandon Stevis Assistant referees: Steve Lane Jessie Santamaria Fourth official: Cesar Calderon | |
| Penalties | ||||
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Semifinals
| November 2 | #2 UC Davis | 1–2 | #3 Cal Poly | Fullerton, CA |
| 4:30 p.m. PT |
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Report |
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Stadium: Titan Stadium Attendance: 355 Referee: Frank Anderson Assistant referees: Melissa Gonzalez Kira Helmer Fourth official: Yoel Miller |
| November 2 | #1 Cal State Fullerton | 0–1 | #5 UC Irvine | Fullerton, CA |
| 7:30 p.m. PT | Report |
|
Stadium: Titan Stadium Attendance: 1,112 Referee: Yoel Miller Assistant referees: Adrian Gonzalez Cameron Blanchard Fourth official: Marissa Postlethwaite |
Final
| November 5 | #3 Cal Poly | 0–1 | #5 UC Irvine | Fullerton, CA |
| 1:00 p.m. PT | Report |
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Stadium: Titan Stadium Attendance: 624 Referee: William Hoffman Assistant referees: Melissa Gonzalez Amanda Dibiasio Fourth official: Abdel Hakeem Wakil |
Statistics
Goalscorers
There were 8 goals scored in 5 matches, for an average of 1.6 goals per match (as of November 5, 2023).
1 goal
- Peja Balanon – Cal Poly
- Jessie Halladay – Cal Poly
- Emily Lieber – Cal Poly
- Emily Nedom – Cal Poly
- Mia Foster – Hawaii
- Bella Mayo – UC Davis
- Erin Covey – UC Irvine
- Mirayah Villalpando – UC Irvine
References
- "Three-Peat Complete: No. 5 UC Irvine Clinches Third Consecutive Big West Women's Soccer Championship With 1-0 Shutout Over No. 3 Cal Poly". bigwest.org. Big West Conference. November 5, 2023. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
- Big West Conference. "2022 BIG WEST WOMEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT". bigwest.org. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
- Big West Conference. "2023 BIG WEST WOMEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT". bigwest.org. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
- Stevens, Ashley (November 5, 2023). "UC Irvine Anteaters three-peat, ending Cal Poly women's soccer postseason run in Big West Championship". ksby.com. KSBY. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
- "Big West Women's Soccer Records" (PDF). bigwest.org. Big West Conference. August 2023. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
- "2023 Big West Women's Soccer Championship Bracket Set with Regular-Season Champion Cal State Fullerton as Top Seed". bigwest.org. Big West Conference. October 26, 2023. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
- "Big West 2023 Women's Soccer Championship". bigwest.org. Big West Conference. Retrieved December 18, 2023.