| No. 5 seed UC Irvine 1, No. 3 seed Cal Poly 0 |
Box Score | UCI Presser
FULLERTON, Calif. - Fifth-seeded UC Irvine clinched its third consecutive conference crown after defeating No. 3 seed Cal Poly, 1-0, in Sunday’s final of the 2023 Big West Women’s Soccer Championship at host Cal State Fullerton’s field on Titan Stadium.
UC Irvine improves to 8-7-6 overall. The Anteaters’ previous two wins were also shutouts, one in overtime, to begin their postseason run. Cal Poly’s 2023 campaign comes to an end at 10-8-3. The Mustangs had taken two in a row coming in, knocking off No. 6 Hawai’i and No. 2 UC Davis before reaching the final.
This is the third Big West Championship title for UC Irvine under 17th-year head coach Scott Juniper, and the fourth overall, with the first one back in 1997. Cal Poly was looking for its fifth trophy and first since 2004.
With an automatic bid in hand, UC Irvine advances on to again represent The Big West in the 64-team 2023 NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championship. That selection show will air live on NCAA.com at 1 p.m. PT this Monday, Nov. 7. UCI has earned a fifth appearance and third in succession in program history.
UC Irvine grabbed the lead just right before the half during the 40th minute when sophomore midfielder Mirayah Villalpando found the back of the net for the midfielder's second tally of the season, assisted by junior defender Suus de Bakker.
From there, neither team could find the back of the net during the second half.
Glo Hinojosa finished with the graduate-student goalkeeper’s UCI's eighth straight shutout in the Big West Women’s Championship. Cal Poly goalkeeper Makenzie Samuel saved a lone shot in net for the Mustangs.
Big West Championship MVP honors went to sophomore forward
Emilie Castagna.
UCI had 12 shots for the afternoon, with CP at eight.
The regular season meeting in between these two sides resulted in a 2-1 Cal Poly victory at Anteater Stadium. This time, UCI emerged victorious in the championship match.
Sunday marked the fourth time the two rivals faced off in a Big West Championship final. The ‘Eaters hold the advantage in the championship series, 3-1 after today’s win. All in all, it was the fourth Big West title tilt for the Anteaters, now at 4-2 in such contests. Cal Poly played in its ninth championship game, with a record of 3-4-2.