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What 2 Watch 4
- Following a trio of weeks against non-conference opponents, Long Beach State (2-2-1) and UC Davis (3-2-0) sit atop the league standings with records above .500.
The Beach are fresh off a 2-1 showing against Utah Valley that featured two scores in the first half courtesy of junior forward Liz Worden and redshirt junior forward Bella Ternero. Warden converted on LBSU's first shot attempt in the 20th minute to put the first tally on the board. The goal counted as Worden's first as a member of the Beach. Ternero headed a ball into the back of the with just 10 seconds left in the first half to give LBSU the 2-1 advantage. With the win, head coach Mauricio Ingrassia claimed the 200th win at the helm of Long Beach State. Overall, Ingrassia is the 82nd active NCAA Division I women's soccer coach to win at least 200 in his career and the 175th Division I coach to win at least 200 at the D-1 level. LBSU will host Washington at George Allen Field on Thursday at 7 p.m. before hitting the road and taking on No. 17 Texas on Sunday at 4 p.m.
The Aggies look to rebound on the road after a hard-fought loss against No. 10 Santa Clara last week. In the setback, redshirt senior goalkeeper Caeley Goldstein stopped nine shots during a full 90 minutes. UC Davis will play at Eastern Washington and New Mexico State on Thursday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at noon, respectively.
There will only be two home matches for Big West squads this week, both of which occur on Thursday, Sept. 5. Cal Poly (1-2-2) will host LMU at 4:30 p.m. while Long Beach State welcomes Washington at 7 p.m.
Cal State Fullerton (2-3-0) travels to Connecticut at 4 p.m. before UC San Diego (1-4-0) ships up to Idaho at 6 p.m. Two matches occupy the 6:30 p.m. slot with UC Santa Barbara (1-1-3) versus New Mexico and Cal State Bakersfield (1-4-0) against UNLV. UC Irvine will head up north to take on Washington State at 7 p.m. while Hawai'i (2-4-0) hits the mainland against Seattle to wrap on Thursday's slate.
Every Big West team will be away from home on Sunday, Sept. 8 with Cal State Fullerton staying put in New England to take on the likes of Boston College at 10 a.m. UC Santa Barbara will face Colorado College at 11 a.m. before UC Davis struts the noon spot with a matchup at New Mexico State. Three contests occupy the 1 p.m. window with Hawai'i at Eastern Washington, Cal Poly at No. 12 Santa Clara, and UC San Diego at Washington State. Long Beach State hits the road at No. 17 Texas for the conference's second nationally-ranked matchup this week. Cal State Bakersfield will conclude week four with a match at Fresno State at 7 p.m
- A total of nine matches are set to air on ESPN+. Check the listings online to watch your favorite Big West teams in action
Last Week Today/Weekly Highlights
- Brynn Mitchell of Hawai'i turned in the first multi-goal performance of the senior's career in the Rainbow Wahine's 4-1 victory over North Dakota State. The Santa Cruz native catapulted UH onto the scoreboard in the 10th minute for the game's first tally. From there, Mitchell found the back of the net once more in the 63rd minute to extend the UH lead, 3-1 from a long-range strike. Nalani Damacion scored the game-winning goal for Hawai'i and is the lone Big West player with multiple GWG this season. Goalkeeper Kennedy Justin secured the redshirt freshman's first career win while recording seven saves. With the win, Coach Nagamine eclipsed the century mark recording the 100th win when UH knocked off North Dakota State, 4-1.
UC Santa Barbara secured its first win of the season behind a 3-0 shutout against San Jose State. The Gauchos swept this week's rendition of Big West Weekly Awards, with Devin Greer securing both Big West Offensive Player and Freshman of the Week and Maddie Buckley recording Defensive Player of the Week. Greer gathered a brace in the contest with a tally by O'Callaghan Liu sandwiched between the two goals. Buckley and the UCSB backline notched a third consecutive clean sheet with the shutout victory.
Whitney Wiley came up big for Cal Poly with a goal in the 50th minute against Pacific. The tally accounted for the second as a Mustang and 11th overall in the graduate student's career. Before Wiley's score, sophomore forward Annika Smith converted a penalty kick to Cal Poly an early advantage. Goalkeeper Mackenzie Samuel secured the 17th clean sheet of the senior's career and the first of the 2024 campaign.
The Highlanders recorded their first win at UC Riverside Soccer Stadium with a 1-0 triumph over UNLV. Defender Nikki Velasco fired a long-range shot into the upper left corner to convert on the freshman's first career goal. From there, UCR's defense put the clamps on UNLV and did not surrender a score from UNLV's 16 total shots, eight on goal.
Preseason Prognostics
- Long Beach State has been selected as the preseason favorite in The Big West heading into the 2024 campaign, as voted on by the league's 11 head coaches.
The Beach (10-6-4, 5-3-2 BW) earned 91 points and six first-place votes in the polling to claim the top spot of the preseason table for consecutive seasons. Coaches in the league also voted on an 11-person Preseason All-Big West team.
Long Beach State lands two student-athletes on the preseason team, Brooklyn Antonucci and newcomer Liz Worden. As a freshman, Antonucci helped anchor LBSU's back line, which allowed only 1.50 goals per game. Offensively, Antonucci contributed six assists in 2023, tied for second overall amongst student-athletes in The Big West last season. Worden, a Riverside native, returns to California after transferring from Texas. The junior amassed five scores and six assists as a member of the Longhorns last season to climb back into the Big West playoff picture.
Cal State Fullerton (8-5-7, 6-1-3 BW) and Cal Poly (10-8-3, 6-3-1 BW) are deadlocked in a second-place tie with both 86 points, three first-place tallies for CSF and a pair of first-place votes for CP behind the Beach. Last season, the Titans won the 2023 Big West regular season while the Mustangs competed in the 2023 Big West Championship Final versus UC Irvine. The two teams also place a pair of student-athletes on the preseason team, respectively.
Emma Brown celebrates Defensive Player of the Year accolades from last season after contributing to a stifling Mustang defense that only allowed 1.17 GPG alongside 1.167 goals against average. This year, Brown was named as one of the 26 players nation-wide as a Defender to Wach by the United Soccer Coaches. Kate Reedy led Cal Poly in games played (21) and goals scored (5) as a junior last season.
Kaylin Raibon of the Titans led the team with 12 total points (5 goals, 2 assists) and was tabbed on the preseason team a year ago. Mia Ranson returns in goal for Cal State Fullerton after claiming 2023 Big West Goalkeeper of the Year behind an impressive league-high 88 saves and seven shutouts as a sophomore.
Three-time defending conference champion UC Irvine (10-8-6, 3-3-4 BW) comes in fourth place in the poll. Last year, the Anteaters made a run and secured the 2023 Big West Women's Soccer Championship with climatic wins against Long Beach State, Cal State Fullerton, and Cal Poly. From there, the 'Eaters advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 where their magical run came to an end.
Forward Desiree Mendoza and defender Kiera Smeenge return to the team as fifth-year players in 2024. Mendoza has managed to play in 63 matches (56 starts), alongside 10 career goals, 28 points, and six game-winners. Smeenge is approaching 5,000 minutes as a member of UCI's back-line and was named to the Top Drawer Soccer Women's National Top 100 Players on their postseason list (No. 98).
UC Davis (10-7-2, 6-2-2 BW) lands at the fifth-place spot on the poll. The Aggies put Sam Tristan on the preseason list who finished second on UCD with 16 points (6 goals, 5 assists.) Tristan also finished top 10 in the nation in penalty kicks converted last season as a junior.
UC Santa Barbara (4-8-7, 2-6-2 BW), Hawai'i (5-8-3, 4-5-1 BW), and UC San Diego 05-8-5, 4-3-3 BW) are positioned in the middle of the pack with the Gauchos earning a sixth-place 50 points while the Rainbow Wahine and Tritons are tied at seven with 47 points apiece. Both Hawai'i and UC San Diego landed a lone student-athlete on the preseason team.
The Rainbow Wahine returns their leading scorer from a year ago, Amber Gilbert. The junior forward notched an All-Big West first-team selection after finishing third in the league in total scores and ranked second in the conference with .438 goals per game.
Skylar Enge of UCSD comes to La Jolla, Calif. from Pepperdine, bringing experience as a graduate student with 71 games played (24 starts) and 17 total career points.
Cal State Bakersfield (3-10-4, 2-5-3 BW), UC Riverside (2-10-7, 2-5-3 BW), and CSUN (1-13-5, 1-5-4 BW) round out the preseason rankings. These three squads will be looking to shake up the league after improving last season.
The Matadors welcome new head coach Gina Brewer to Northridge, Calif. after spending the 2023 season as an assistant coach at UCLA. In one season with the Bruins, Brewer helped guide UCLA to the Pac-12 Championship and a 16-2-1 record.
Action across The Big West kicks off this Thursday, Aug. 15. Conference play begins on Thursday, Sept. 19 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. 31.
Select regular-season contests are slated for telecast on the ESPN family of networks. Please check ESPN listings for upcoming game schedules and additional information.
Postseason Rewind/2024 Look Ahead
- In 2023, UC Irvine secured its third straight Big West championship after battling its way through as the fifth seed.
The Anteaters needed more than overtime to knock off fourth-seeded Long Beach State as the group advanced past the first round 4-1 in penalty kicks. The semifinals saw UCI take down top-seeded and host-site Cal State Fullerton in a 1-0 decision, clinching a spot in the championship final for consecutive seasons. UC Irvine completed its three-peat with a 1-0 victory over No. 3 Cal Poly in the championship match.
The 'Eaters went on to advance to the third round of the NCAA Championship in back-to-back seasons starting with a thrilling 1-0 triumph over top-seeded and defending national champion UCLA. In the second round, UCI grinded out a 2-1 win over eighth-seeded Gonzaga before bowing out in the third round versus No. 5 seed Nebraska, 4-0.
The first round of the six-team 2024 Big West Women's Soccer Championship will be hosted by the higher-seeded team as the No. 3 seed takes on the No. 6 seed and the No. 4 seed hosts the No. 5 seed on Sunday, Nov. 3.
From there, the advancing teams compete at the site of the regular-season champion and top seed to play the semifinal and championship matches.
The semifinal round is set for Thursday, Nov. 7 with the clash for The Big West crown coming on Sunday, Nov. 10.
Big West in 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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