2024 Women's Soccer All-Big West Team (.pdf) | Watch the video >>>
 
The Big West has released its 2024 all-conference teams and major award winners ahead of Sunday's start to The Big West Women's Soccer Championship. Student-athletes from all eleven institutions have received recognition across the lists.       

Sam Tristan, a forward/midfielder from UC Davis has been celebrated as The Big West Offensive Player of the Year. 

Nalani Damacion was named The Big West Midfielder of the Year while fellow teammates Jacey Jicha and Kennedy Justin joined the freshman on the major award list as the Defensive Player and Goalkeeper of the Year. All three student-athletes are the first in UH history to receive their respective distinctions. Michele Nagamine was named Coach of the Year after guiding the Rainbow Wahine to their best conference record in program history at 8-1-1. It is the first time Nagamine has taken home the honor since 2019.  

Hawai'i earned the regular season title and will enter the 2024 Big West Women's Soccer Championship as the No. 1 seed, another first-time feat for the program.  

Devin Green of UC Santa Barbara rounds out the list of major award winners as The Big West Freshman of the Year. Greer guided UCSB as its top goal scorer with six tallies, second most in the freshman category. The Gauchos enter the Championship as the No. 3 seed after not qualifying a season ago.  

Tristan started all 19 contests for the Aggies in 2024 and accumulated a league-high in points (24), shots on goal (25), and was one of two only student-athletes to record double-digit scores (10) this season. The Fresno, Calif. native notched a spot on the preseason team heading into the year and was named Offensive Player of the Week twice this season (Aug. 26, Sept. 9). This is the first time in history a player from UC Davis has been recognized as The Big West Offensive Player of the Year.  

Damacion, a freshman from Rocklin, Calif., capped the regular season campaign as the nation's leader in game-winning goals amongst all freshmen (5). Five of Damacion's seven scores this season came in the second half, four of which were within the final 10 minutes of regulation. The Big West Midfielder of the year also rewrote the conference record book after recording a league-high Freshman of the Week honors five times.  

Jacey Jicha jolted UH's defense and helped orchestrate a back line that allowed less than a goal (.60) per contest in conference play. Offensively, Jicha gathered three points (1 goal, 1 assist) this season.  

Freshman goalkeeper Kennedy Justin sports the second-best GAA (.620) and save percentage (.846) in league play while tying for the top spot in shutouts with five. In total, Kennedy collected 67 saves over 20 matches (19 starts) for a 0.770 save percentage.  

Cal Poly, Long Beach State, UC Irvine, and UC Santa Barbara see a student-athlete on the first team list while Cal State Fullerton sports the duo of junior midfielder Isabella Cruz and sophomore forward Kaylee Noble. 

Cruz collects first-team accolades for a second straight season after finishing No. 2 on the Titans in points with 12 (4 goals, 4 assists). Noble doubled the forward's career high in goals (6) and finished second in the standings in SOG (23) and fifth in points at 15 (6 goals, 3 assists). CSUF will see itself on the road as the No. 6 visiting UCSB on Sunday.  

Senior defender Emma Brown earned recognition on the All-Big West first-team list for a third straight season. The reigning Defensive Player of the Year dominated a Mustang backline that recorded two clean sheets in conference play. Brown logged in a full 90 minutes in all but two matches this season and never left the field during Big West action.  

Emily Caughey represents UC Santa Barbara on the first team. The sophomore defender helped UCSB stonewall its opponents to only .80 scores per contest in conference play.  

Junior forward Emilie Castagna also captured a spot on the first team. The 2023 Big West Championship MWP scored four times this season, tied for fifth most in The Big West. UCI enters the postseason as the league's three-time defending champion and will occupy the fourth seed.  

All five of Kassandra Ceja's scores came in conference play and qualified for the most tallied by a student-athlete in league play this campaign. The forward ended 2024 atop LBSU with 14 points (5 goals, 4 assists) and the highest SOG% at 0.531.  

Genavieve Fontes is the league's leading scorer with 11 tallies, one more than teammate Sam Tristan who took home the Offensive Player of the Year hardware. The midfielder found the back of the net three times against LSU in a thrilling 4-3 result in favor of UC Davis. Fontes was named the Top Drawer Soccer National Player of the Week for the hat-trick performance against an SEC foe. Overall, Fontes finished the regular season tied at 24 for most total goals in the nation.  

Jayde Holley joins fellow Aggie teammtes Fontes and Tristan on the first team. Holley has the Big West lead in assists with eight total. The Rancho Santa Margarita native has managed to crack the all-conference team three times in the senior's career (2022 All-Big West Conference First Team, 2022 All-West Region Third Team, 2021 All-Big West Conference Second Team, 2021 Big West Conference All-Freshman Team). 

Maddie Buckley highlights the All-Big West second team after leading the league in GAA at a stifling .710. The sophomore goalkeeper finished tied with a Big West-best eight shutouts, half of which came in conference play. Buckley brought home Defensive Player of the Week honors twice this season (Sept. 2, and Oct. 14).  

Laila El Behery was active for the Anteaters in 2024, finishing the year as the team's leading scorer with six goals. 

Makayla Demelo made the All-Big West conference team again this season after producing four goals and dishing out an assist. Teammate Liz Worden also warranted recognition on the second team. The Texas transfer recorded five assists and notched three tallies in 2024.  

Brynn Mitchell boasts second-team honors after turning in 1,251 minutes on the pitch was good enough to score four times and record three assists.  

Santa Rosa native O'Callaghan Liu tied UCSB with a team-high two assists and contributed two scores this season.   

Emma Vane finds the midfielder back as an All-Big West selection after being awarded first-team recognition in 2022. The senior secured 10 points this season spread across four tallies and a set of assists. 
 

Three defenders dot the second team squad with UH's Alice Davidson, UCI's Kiera Smeenge, and CSUF's duo of Kaylin Raibon and Taya Townsell all earning recognition.   

Sarah Canavan of UC Davis, Mimi Dominguez of UC Riverside, Kimberly Garcia of Cal State Bakersfield, Amber Gilbert of Hawai'i, Jessie Halladay of Cal Poly, Courtney Hilliard of UC San Diego, Cailey Jackson of CSUN, Kate Reedy of Cal Poly, Cate Sheahan of Hawai'i, and Annika Smith of Cal Poly were the forwards who made the list way of honorable mention.  

Emma Corcoran of UC Santa Barbara, Skylar Enge of UC San Diego, Desiree Mendoza of UC Irvine, Sophia Minnite of Cal Poly, Julia Moore of Long Beach State, Kailey Park of UC San Diego, Yoshi Rubalcava of CSUN, and Sara Ybarra of Cal State Bakersfield were the midfield players who made the list way of honorable mention. 

Camryn Borg of UC San Diego, Paige Califf of CSUN, Angelica Claiborne of CSUN, Marissa Garcia of Long Beach State, Bella Mayo of UC Davis, Leilah Raad of UC San Diego, Paige Rodriguez of Cal State Bakersfield, and Sofie Rodriguez of UC Santa Barbara were the defenders who made the list way of honorable mention. 

Kamy Anaya of Cal State Bakersfield, Allee Grashoff of UC Riverside, Ashley Naylor of UC Irvine, Ranson of Cal State Fullerton, and Mackenzie Samuel (Cal Poly) are the Big West goalkeepers that round out the honorable mention catalog.  

The All-Freshman team features Cal State Bakersfield's Miah Thomas, Cal State Fullerton's Isabella Contreras, CSUN's Kayden Perigo, Nalani Damacion (Midfielder of the Year), Alice Davidson (second team), Kennedy Justin (Defensive Player of the Year of Hawai'i, Abella Hunter of UC Davis (second team), UC Riverside's Mimi Dominguez, UC San Diego's Leilah Raad, Devin Greer (Freshman of the Year) of UC Santa Barbara and Ivy Williams of UC Irvine. 

The Big West Women's Soccer Championship begins Sunday with a pair of first-round tilts at higher-seeded campus sites. Sixth-seeded Cal State Fullerton is at No. 3 seed UC Santa Barbara at Noon and fifth-seeded Cal State Bakersfield plays at No. 4 seed UC Irvine at 6 p.m.   

Regular-season champion and top seed Hawai'i welcomes Sunday's two advancing sides, as well as No. 2 seed UC Davis, for the semifinals on Thursday, Nov. 7.  

Kickoff times at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium in Waipahu, O'ahu. are 4 p.m. HT/6 p.m. PT and 7 p.m. HT/9 p.m. PT. The Rainbow Wahine will then also serve as hosts for the championship final on Sunday, Nov. 10, at 11 a.m. HT/1 p.m., with the winner gaining The Big West's automatic bid into the 2024 NCAA Championship.  

The Big West 2024 Women's Soccer All-Conference Team
Offensive Player of the Year: Sam Tristan, UC Davis
Midfielder of the Year: Nalani Damacion, Hawai'i
Defensive Player of the Year: Jacey Jicha, Hawai'i
Goalkeeper of the Year: Kennedy Justin, Hawai'i
Freshman of the Year: Devin Greer, UC Santa Barbara
Coach of the Year: Michele Nagamine, Hawai'i
All-Big West First Team
Student-Athlete	Year	Position	Institution	Hometown
Emma Brown	Sr.	D	Cal Poly	Clovis, Calif.
Emilie Castagna	Jr.	F	UC Irvine	Bournemouth, England
Emily Caughey	So.	D	UC Santa Barbara	Woodland Hills, Calif.
Kassandra Ceja	Sr.	F	Long Beach State	Lathrop, Calif.
Isabella Cruz	Jr.	MF	Cal State Fullerton	Kerman, Calif.
Nalani Damacion	Fr.	MF	Hawai'i	Rocklin, Calif.
Genavieve Fontes	R-Jr.	MF	UC Davis	Hilmar, Calif.
Devin Greer	Fr.	F	UC Santa Barbara	Sacramento, Calif.
Jayde Holley	R-Jr.	F	UC Davis	Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.
Jacey Jicha	Sr.	D	Hawai'i	Mililani, O'ahu
Kennedy Justin	R-Fr.	GK	Hawai'i	Long Beach, Calif.
Kaylee Noble	So.	F	Cal State Fullerton	Lakewood, Calif.
Sam Tristan	Sr.	F	UC Davis	Fresno, Calif.
All-Big West Second Team
Student-Athlete	Year	Position	Institution	Hometown
Maddie Buckley	So.	GK	UC Santa Barbara	Lafayette, Calif.
Laila El Behery	Sr.	F	UC Irvine	Cairo, Egypt
Alice Davidson	Fr.	D	Hawai'i	Scappoose, Ore.
Makayla Demelo	R-Jr.	MF	Long Beach State	Bellflower, Calif.
O'Callaghan Liu	Sr.	MF	UC Santa Barbara	Santa Rosa, Calif.
Brynn Mitchell	Sr.	F	Hawai'i	Santa Cruz, Calif.
Bella Mayo	Jr.	D	UC Davis	Pleasanton, Calif.
Kaylin Raibon	Jr.	D	Cal State Fullerton	Laguna Niguel, Calif.
Kiera Smeenge	Sr.	D	UC Irvine	La Mesa, Calif
Taya Townsell	R-Jr.	D	Cal State Fullerton	Chino, Calif.
Emma Vane	Sr.	MF	UC Davis	San Jose, Calif.
Liz Worden	Jr.	F	Long Beach State	Riverside, Calif.
Honorable Mention: F — Sarah Canavan (UC Davis); Amelia "Mimi" Dominguez (UC Riverside); Kimberly Garcia (Cal State Bakersfield); Amber Gilbert (Hawai'i); Jessie Halladay (Cal Poly); Courtney Hilliard (UC San Diego); Cailey Jackson (CSUN); Kate Reedy (Cal Poly); Cate Sheahan (Hawai'i); Annika Smith (Cal Poly); MF — Emma Corcoran (UC Santa Barbara); Skylar Enge (UC San Diego); Desiree Mendoza (UC Irvine); Sophia Minnite (Cal Poly); Julia Moore (Long Beach State); Kailey Park (UC San Diego); Yoshi Rubalcava (CSUN); Sara Ybarra (Cal State Bakersfield); D — Camryn Borg (UC San Diego); Paige Califf (CSUN); Angelica Claiborne (CSUN); Marissa Garcia (Long Beach State); Bella Mayo (UC Davis); Leilah Raad (UC San Diego); Paige Rodriguez (Cal State Bakersfield); Sofie Rodriguez (UC Santa Barbara); GK — Kamy Anaya (Cal State Bakersfield); Allee Grashoff (UC Riverside); Ashley Naylor (UC Irvine); Ranson (Cal State Fullerton); Mackenzie Samuel (Cal Poly)
All-Freshman Team
Isabella Contreras (Cal State Fullerton), Nalani Damacion (Hawai'i), Alice Davidson (Hawai'i), Mimi Dominguez (UC Riverside), Devin Greer (UC Santa Barbara), Abella Hunter (UC Davis), Kennedy Justin (Hawai'i), Kayden Perigo (CSUN), Leiah Raad (UC San Deigo), Miah Thomas (Cal State Bakersfield), Ivy Williams (UC Irinve)