Central Coast foes Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara are co-leaders in Big West women's soccer at 3-1-0. Both schools host three-time regular season champion Long Beach State this week as conference play continues.
NOTEWORTHY
KEEP AN EYE ON
Coral Hoover, Cal Poly
Hoover has recorded six shutouts in the last eight games and her play has helped the Mustangs vault to the top of the Big West. She is 9-2 overall in net for Cal Poly this season. Hoover posted shutouts against UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton last week and lowered her goals against average to 0.81, which ranks third in the Big West. Hoover’s save percentage of .893 leads the conference and ranks eighth in the nation.
MORE NOTABLES
Four Of Top Five Wins Leaders Current Coaches
Longevity and success have permitted current Big West women’s soccer coaches to occupy four of the top five spots on the all-time victories list. Cal Poly head coach Alex Crozier leads the group with 157 victories. Pacific’s Keith Coleman is second overall with 134 wins and UC Santa Barbara’s Paul Stumpf is third on the list with 105. Veronica O’Brien, with 81 victories at UC Riverside, sits in fifth. The Big West began sponsoring women’s soccer in 1996. The four coaches have a combined 44 years of head coaching experience in the Big West.
COACHING VICTORY LEADERS
(as member of the Big West)
157 Alex Crozier, Cal Poly
134 Keith Coleman, Pacific
105 Paul Stumpf, UC Santa Barbara
92 Marine Cano, UC Irvine
81 Veronica O’Brien, UC Riverside
bold denotes active Big West head coach
Shutout Shindig
Defense was the theme of last weekend’s games as six of the eight Big West contests resulted in a shutout. Cal Poly won two games in that manner, and UC Santa Barbara, Pacific, Cal State Northridge and UC Irvine followed suit with one clean sheet apiece. Five of the six shutouts were decided by 1-0 scores as well.
Central Coast Co-Leaders At Home
Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara are tied atop the Big West standings with 3-1 records heading into a pivotal week of conference competition. On Thursday, the preseason conference favorite Gauchos host Long Beach State, the three-time defending regular season champion and projected runner-up in this year’s race. Long Beach State is 1-1 in league play, having played two less conference tilts than its Central Coast brethren. The 49ers conclude their trip on Sunday against the Mustangs, who were tabbed third in the preseason coaches poll.
The First To Ten
Cal Poly and UC Irvine get the first cracks at reaching the 10-win mark this week. Both schools sit at nine wins currently. The Mustangs can wrap up victory No. 10 against UC Davis on Thursday. The Anteaters play their first game of the week on Friday when they make the short trek across Orange County to play Cal State Fullerton. A successful result for the Mustangs would give the program 10 wins for the seventh time in the last eight seasons. UCI is attempting to hit double-digit wins for the second time in the last three seasons.
Big West’s Non-Conference Record
A glance at the Big West’s record in non-conference games reveals a mark of 42-38-13 (.522).
Townley Strikes Again
Cal State Northridge junior Farryn Townley is enjoying a productive season so far. The forward scored her team-leading seventh goal of the year in dramatic fashion, doing so in the 100th minute of a 1-0 overtime win at UC Davis on Sunday. Townley has accounted for nearly half of CSUN’s offensive output in 2008 with seven of the team’s 16 goals. The seven goals for Townley ties her for fifth on the school’s single-season list, and her 13 career goals is the fifth-most in the record book.
Dangerous Duo
UC Davis, at 6-5-1, is only one win away from equalling last season’s win total of seven. Credit for the success largely goes to the lethal scoring combo of Rochelle VanBuskirk and Marisa Boge. The duo has combined for 18 of the 26 Aggie goals this season. VanBuskirk leads the Big West with 12 goals and is tied for sixth in the nation in goals per game (1.0). She has scored at least one goal in four of the last five games. Boge’s six goals is a career-high. The other eight Aggie goals have been scored by eight different players.
Niners Double Up On Double Overtime
Long Beach State got stingy on defense last week in a pair of double overtime ties against San Diego and Cal State Bakersfield. The 49ers have allowed opponents to score just three goals in the last five matches, but are only 1-2-2 over that span. LBSU has scored just two goals in the last five contests, and both came in a 2-1 win versus UC Davis.
deSeriere Moves Up Shutout Chart
UC Irvine junior goalkeeper Danielle deSeriere posted her seventh shutout of the season in a 1-0 win at Pacific on Sunday. In doing so, deSeriere moved into a tie for ninth in the Big West record book with 19 career shutouts.
BIG WEST CAREER SHUTOUTS
34 Liz Ramos, Long Beach State 2005-08
28 Kim McCaskey, Pacific 1997-99
27 Tawny Poggio, UC Riverside 2003-06
26 Karen Bardsley, Cal State Fullerton 2002-06
24 Jamie Considine, UC Santa Barbara 2002-05
23 Liz Hill, Cal Poly 2002-05
22 Jaime Souza, Pacific 2004-07
22 Greta Shirdon, Cal Poly 2000-03
19 Natalia Garcia, Cal Poly 1996-00
19 Danielle deSeriere, UC Irvine 2007-present
Big West Live Comes To Twitter
The Big West Conference is excited to bring Big West Live to Twitter, a Twitter feed designed to give fans an in-the-stands view of select Big West Events. Bringing near-instantaneous photos, commentary, and updates, Big West Live is the first feed of its kind. Moving beyond the scores and stats, Big West Live delivers the “color” of Big West events.
Follow Your Team On BigWest.TV
The Big West Conference and the CBS College Sports Network are partnering to bring you exclusive coverage of Big West sports, press conferences, interviews, and features to your home via the Internet! Now in its fifth year, BigWest.TV covers every home and conference contest in men’s basketball as well as women’s basketball and volleyball. Also covered are select contests in men’s and women’s soccer, baseball, softball, and Big West Conference Championships. A monthly subscription of $9.95 or an annual subscription of $79.95 delivers exclusive coverage to you. If you can’t make it to the gym or the field, you can still catch all the action on BigWest.TV!