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
ClassificationDivision I
Teams6
Matches5
Attendance3,001
SiteTitan Stadium (Semifinals & Final)
Fullerton, California
ChampionsUC Irvine (4th title)
Winning coachScott Juniper (3rd title)
MVPEmilie Castagna[1] (UC Irvine)
BroadcastESPN+
Big West Conference women's soccer tournament
«2022  2024»
2023 Big West Conference women's soccer standings
Conf Overall
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

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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

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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

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Quarterfinals

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October 29 #3 Cal Poly 2–1 #6 Hawaii San Luis Obispo, CA
2:00 p.m. PT
  • Emily Lieber   1'
  • Peja Balanon   39'
  • Emily Nedom   67'
  • Sophia Minnite   84'
Report
  •   27',   67' Mia Foster
  •   79' Amber Gilbert
  •   82' Eve Bleam
Stadium: Mustang Memorial Field
Attendance: 524
Referee: Adam Zarrin
Assistant referees: Chris Gomez
Assistant referees: 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
  • Brooklyn Antonucci   50'
  • Makayla Demelo   92'
Report Stadium: George Allen Field
Attendance: 386
Referee: Brandon Stevis
Assistant referees: Steve Lane
Assistant referees: Jessie Santamaria
Fourth official: Cesar Calderon
Penalties
  • Julia Moore  
  • Aleea Caceres  
  • Maddy Perez  
  •   Tati Fung
  •   Laila Behery
  •   Erin Covey
  •   Marissa LeVine

Semifinals

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November 2 #2 UC Davis 1–2 #3 Cal Poly Fullerton, CA
4:30 p.m. PT
  • Bella Mayo   30'
Report
  •   28' Emily Nedom
  •   81' (pen.) Jessie Halladay
Stadium: Titan Stadium
Attendance: 355
Referee: Frank Anderson
Assistant referees: Melissa Gonzalez
Assistant referees: 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
  •   48' Gianna Creighton
  •   49' Erin Covey
  •   62' Kiera Smeenge
  •   69' Madison Goerlinger
Stadium: Titan Stadium
Attendance: 1,112
Referee: Yoel Miller
Assistant referees: Adrian Gonzalez
Assistant referees: Cameron Blanchard
Fourth official: Marissa Postlethwaite

Final

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November 5 #3 Cal Poly 0–1 #5 UC Irvine Fullerton, CA
1:00 p.m. PT Report
  •   40',   78' Mirayah Villalpando
Stadium: Titan Stadium
Attendance: 624
Referee: William Hoffman
Assistant referees: Melissa Gonzalez
Assistant referees: Amanda Dibiasio
Fourth official: Abdel Hakeem Wakil

Statistics

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Goalscorers

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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

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  1. ^ "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.
  2. ^ Big West Conference. "2022 BIG WEST WOMEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT". bigwest.org. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
  3. ^ Big West Conference. "2023 BIG WEST WOMEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT". bigwest.org. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ "Big West Women's Soccer Records" (PDF). bigwest.org. Big West Conference. August 2023. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
  6. ^ "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.
  7. ^ "Big West 2023 Women's Soccer Championship". bigwest.org. Big West Conference. Retrieved December 18, 2023.