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What 2 Watch 4
- UC Davis is the lone Big West school with a record above the .500 mark after the first two weeks of play. This week, the Aggies pack their bags and visit Portland before returning home to face LMU. UC Davis continues to sport an unblemished record on the road with two wins.
- Long Beach State is slated to host No. 22 Harvard on Thursday after returning home from its first road trip of the year. The Beach split last week after being bested by No. 11 BYU, but followed up with a shutout against San Diego State, 3-0. Harvard will be the team's third nationally-ranked opponent this season.
- Hawai’i hits the road for the first time this year versus Air Force and UNLV after earning its first win of the 2023 season versus Sacramento State. Unlike the Bows, Cal Poly has not hosted a match on its home field yet and will continue to embrace the role as the visitors this week while the team faces California this Sunday.
- UC San Diego has its eyes set towards the east coast as the Tritons travel to New England and take on Rhode Island and Brown this week. Brown is lurking just outside of the national rankings as the Bears are receiving votes in this week's latest edition of the national poll.
- A total of three matches are set to air on ESPN+; check the listings here.
Last Week Today
- It was a night of firsts for Cal State Bakersfield on Friday. The Roadrunners recorded the first win of the Bernardo Silva era with a shutout victory versus Northern Arizona, 1-0. Selena Hernandez scored her first collegiate goal in the 71st minute to push the team past the opposition and earn its first win of the young year.
- Cal Poly took No. 1 UCLA to the wire in a thrilling matchup that ended in a 2-1 result on a penalty kick within the final two minutes for the defending national champions. Despite the defeat, the Mustangs fought valiantly and nearly earned a draw on the road against the 2022 national champions. Thursday’s match marked the fifth time in program history Cal Poly squared off against the No. 1 team in the nation.
- After entering the season without a goal in her Hawai’i career, junior midfielder Mia Foster posted her third of 2023 in a 3-1 win over Sacramento State on Aug. 24. The junior converted her second penalty kick of the season to give the Rainbow Wahine a 2-0 lead in the 42nd minute and led UH five shots, including two on goal.
- During UC Davis’s third win in four matches senior midfielder Leslie Fregoso played field general this weekend, tallying two assists against San Francisco. The two assists moved Fregoso to second all-time among leaders for UC Davis in the Division I era. Fregoso initiated the action against the Dons and set up both Sarah Canavan and Risa Yamada for tallies.
- Senior forward Alwis Manuri of UC Santa Barbara scored the lone goal on the week for the Gauchos coming in the 23rd minute against Pacific accounting for her first score of the season. Defensively, junior goalkeeper Sabrina Hinz played 135 minutes in goal allowing just one to get by her and record seven saves. Hinz posted her second clean sheet of the season against Fresno State in a 0-0 draw. The goal she allowed against Pacific was the first one to get past her in 160 minutes.
- Big West Offensive Player of the Week acclaim went to Kassandra Ceja following her performance on the week. The senior forward Kassandra Ceja helped the Beach take down San Diego State on the road this week by potting a pair of tallies, including the game-winning goal for the Beach in their decisive 3-0 victory. This is Ceja’s first career Player of the Week honor. Long Beach State’s first two scores of the match came by the foot of Ceja in the 25th and 67th minute to help the team secure its second win of the season, evening their record at 2-2-0. Ceja’s two tallies and four total points place the senior forward third overall on the team in both respective categories.
- Cal Poly junior goalkeeper Mackenzie Samuel earned Defensive Player of the Week honors for her play in net this week. Samuel stopped 13 total shots and only allowed two goals this week for the Mustangs. This is Samuel’s third Player of the Week honor of her career, also earning acclaim the past two seasons (Oct. 4, 2021, Oct. 17, 2022). The Mustangs went toe-to-toe with defending national champion and top-ranked UCLA on the road this weekend. Tied 1-1, Samuel made four sensational saves down the stretch in the second half to deny the Bruins outright. A penalty kick in the 89th minute allowed No.1 UCLA to sneak past the Mustangs in the final moments of regulation. Samuel followed up the next match by recording a clean sheet against LMU. The junior goalkeeper turned away five of the six shots the Mustangs saw on goal, securing the team's first win of the season. The performance versus LMU counted as Samuel’s 14 career shutout and is now No. 10 on Cal Poly’s all-time career saves list with 105 total.
- Freshman defender Elis Picard picked up Big West Freshman of the Week honors in UC Davis’ win versus San Francisco. This is Picard’s first career Player of the Week award. The true freshman added an insurance goal while finding the back of the net in the 48th minute to give the Aggies a 2-0 lead at the time. UC Davis’s win helped them keep the top spot in The Big West standings with a 3-1-0 overall record. Picard’s score against the Dons accounts for the first ever of her young collegiate career.
Preseason Prognostications
- In a tightly contested battle at the top of the standings, Long Beach State has been selected as the top team in the Big West heading into the 2023 season, as voted on by the league’s 11 head coaches.
The Beach (8-7-6, 5-2-3 BW) earned 87 points and two first-place votes in the polling to claim the top spot in the preseason table after appearing in The Big West Championship title match a year ago.
Coaches in the league also voted on a 12-person Preseason All-Big West team. Long Beach State claimed two spots on the preseason team with the pairing of Cherrie Cox and Maddy Perez earning the honors. In 2022, Cox became the sixth Big West Freshman of the Year in Long Beach history after tallying 15 points (5 goals, 5 assists) on the season, 12 of which came during conference play. Perez returns to the picture behind a 2022 campaign that was capped off with a 2022 Big West All-Conference First Team selection and All-West Region Third Team accolades for a stellar performance on the back line. Perez also earned Big West Freshman of the Year recognition during the 2021 season.
Cal Poly (9-7-3, 6-1-3 BW) was left from the top spot on the poll after notching one less point (86) than the Beach but still holds the advantage in first-place votes with four. The defending regular season champions will look to climb their way back to the top after falling in a hard-fought Big West Semifinals match to the eventual conference champion UC Irvine. Emma Brown boasts preseason honors after contributing to a Cal Poly defense that secured 10 shutout victories a year ago, the most in program history since 2009. Brown was selected to the 2022 All-Big West First Team, and 2022 United Soccer Coaches All-West Region Third Team, respectively, behind 1,786 minutes of play on the back line, qualifying for the most in program history since 2017.
One point also separated the third and fourth spots on the preseason list between UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton as the Anteaters accumulated 79 points (3 first-place votes) to rival the Titan's 78 points (oen first-place vote).
Defending conference champion UC Irvine (11-6-7, 3-2-5 BW) will look to clinch its third consecutive Big West Championship title after going on an NCAA Tournament run that included a berth to the Sweet Sixteen after dethroning No. 14 USC, 2-0, and advancing past Brown in PK’s, 4-2, during the first two rounds on the national stage. UC Irvine’s three representatives on the preseason team account for the most of any Big West institution. Gianna Crieghton started and played in all 24 matches last year to tie a single-season program record with 2,191 minutes played. The Anteaters will look towards the leadership and play of goalkeeper Glo Hinojosa, who returned to the team for a graduate year. Hinojosa was named MVP of the Big West Championship and set the single-season high for saves at UC Irvine with 86. Alyssa Moore also returns to the field after being tied for the team lead with six goals and earning a spot on the 2022 All-Big West Second Team and 2022 National Team of the Week for the week of Aug. 21st.
Cal State Fullerton (6-2-2, 9-6-5 BW) takes command of the list with its two honorees, Makenna McGill, and Kaylin Raibon. Raibon returns after making 18 starts as an outside back on the Titan's defense that produced a 1.088 GAA, placing third in the Big West a year ago. Raibon also celebrates a 2022 Big West Freshman of the Week honor after recording two assists in a crucial conference win on Oct. 6. McGill arrived at Cal State Fullerton from Washington State a year ago where the forward saw action in 12 matches in a Titan's uniform.
UC Davis (9-6-4, 6-2-2 BW) finished fifth in voting with 69 points. Senior Midfielder Leslie Fregoso led the Aggies in scoring with goals (6), ranking seventh amongst all players in the conference last year, clinching a spot on the 2022 All-Big West First Team.
UC Santa Barbara (5-9-6, 4-3-3 BW) received a lone first-place vote behind its 58 points and is projected to secure the sixth and final spot in the Big West Championship according to the votes. The Gauchos return Lauren Helwig as their top goal scorer (7) from a year ago earning 2022 All-Big West First Team honors. The Midfielder placed fifth in the conference with 15 points. Other than Helwig, the student-athletes listed above her in the top 5 have completed their respective collegiate careers.
Hawai’i slides into the seventh-place slot with 44 points. Graduate student Eliza Ammendolia gathered a 2022 All-Big West First Team Selection after starting in 13 of the team's 15 total matches.
UC San Diego (36), UC Riverside (29), CSUN (20), and Cal State Bakersfield (15) round out the preseason rankings. These four squads will be looking to shake up the league after improving last season.
Play across The Big West kicks off this Thursday, Aug. 17. Conference play begins on Thursday, Sept. 14 with four matches on the docket, kicking off a seven-week slate. Each side will see five home matches and three bye dates dotted throughout the Thursday-Sunday rotation that ends on Oct. 26.
2022 Postseason Rewind
- Last year’s edition features six teams, up from four, with the top two seeds enjoying first-round byes. Those two sides were No. 1 seed and regular-season champion Cal Poly (9-6-3, 6-1-3 Big West, 21 points), and second-seeded UC Davis (9-5-4, 6-2-2 BW, 20 points). The Mustangs also earned the right to serve as hosts for the semifinals on Thursday, Nov. 3, and the championship match on Sunday, Nov. 6.
Although these teams claimed the top two spots in the 2022 Big West Women’s Soccer Championship, both squads fell in the semifinal round in a pair of hard-fought matches. From there, fourth-seeded Long Beach State and sixth-seeded UC Irvine clashed in the title match, with the Anteaters securing the victory, 3-0.
After claiming consecutive Big West Championship crowns, UC Irvine was set to represent the conference on the national stage and mimic another magical run similar to last year.
The Anteaters avenged their regular season loss to the Trojans by shutting out No. 14 USC, 2-0, in the opening round at 2022 NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championship.
The following match, The Big West Championship Most Valuable Player Glo Hinojosa came up with huge saves in regulation, overtime and the penalty-kick tiebreaker to propel UC Irvine past Brown University and into the third round of the 2022 NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championship. The result of the first all-time meeting between the programs officially goes down as a 1-1 draw, with The Big West champion UC Irvine advancing 4-2 on penalty kicks.
UC Irvine’s historic season ended at the hands of No. 3 Alabama, 3-1, in the third round of the 2022 NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championship.
From The Big West to the big Leagues
- In January 2022, Long Beach State forward Lena Silano was selected 34th overall by the Washington Spirit in the third round of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) Draft.
Silano was the second straight player from the Beach to be drafted and is the fourth overall Big West student-athlete to hear their name called in the NWSL Draft. Former teammate, Kaitlin Fregulia and 2x Big West Defensive Player of the Year (2017, 2021) was selected 12th overall to the North Carolina Courage as the highest draft pick in Big West Women’s Soccer history.
Silano won the 2022 Big West Offensive Player of the Year Award and has been an All-Big West selection twice (2021, 2022). The forward also was a member of the 2022 United Soccer Coaches All-West Region First Team.
Two months later, another alum of the Big West would have an opportunity to play in the NWSL as UC Irvine alum Scarlett Camberos was signed by Angel City FC (LA), marking her return to Southern California after spending time at Club América Femenil. The former Anteater scored 13 goals and notched seven assists during her senior season.
Another monumental moment for the conference occurred during the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup while Quinley Quezada represented UC Riverside and the Big West on the biggest stage while playing for the Philippines. The squad suffered a 2-0 defeat versus Switzerland in the first group stage before winning its first-ever world cup match against New Zealand, 1-0 on July 25, 2023. However, The Philippines fell in its final group match to Norway, 6-0.
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