NCAA Bracket
The 64-team field for the 2025 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship was announced Monday afternoon, and Big West champion Cal Poly will visit No. 1 seed Stanford in the opening round on Friday, Nov. 14, with kickoff scheduled for 6 p.m. at Cagan Stadium in Palo Alto, Calif., on the campus of the Cardinal. The match will stream live on ESPN+.
Cal Poly (10-2-9) earned The Big West's automatic berth after capturing its first conference title in 21 years with a 1-0 victory over defending champion and storied rival UC Santa Barbara in Sunday's Championship Final at Matador Soccer Field. The decisive goal came in the 88th minute off the foot of 2025 Championship MVP Jessie Halladay, who struck the game-winner from distance with just 115 seconds left in regulation. Halladay scored the game-winning goal in both CP's semi-final and final matches. The result sealed the program's fourth Big West title and first under first-year head coach Bernardo Silva.
The Mustangs will be making their sixth NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship appearance and first since 2004. Cal Poly owns a 2-5-1 record in NCAA postseason play, highlighted by a 2003 second-round appearance.
Stanford earned hosting duties after finishing the regular season ranked No. 1 alongside an Atlantic Coast Conference record of 9-0-1 (16-1-2 overall). The Cardinal come into the NCAA Championship having won their first ACC title and a trio of national titles under their belts (2011, 2017, and 2019).
Cal Poly is anchored by Halladay, who paced the Mustangs with a Big West-best eight goals and four assists (22 points | No. 1 in Big West), and a stingy defensive unit led by goalkeeper Shannon Porubski, who has posted nine shutouts in 2025. The Mustangs also celebrate three All-Big West First Team standouts with Brennan Cole (2025 Big West Defensive Player of the Year), Madelyn Dougherty, and Annika Smith (2025 Big West Offensive Player of the Year).
This is the twelfth all-time meeting between the two programs, and the second-ever NCAA postseason matchup between the two sides. The last time CP qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 2004, the Mustangs also drew the Cardinal in the first round of the Championship field.
The 2025 NCAA Women's Soccer Championship is scheduled for Dec. 5–8 at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.