2026 Women's Soccer Awards and All-Big West Teams (.pdf)
The Big West has announced its 2026 women's soccer all-conference teams and major award winners ahead of Wednesday's start of the 2026 Big West Women's Soccer Championship.

Regular-season champion Utah Valley claimed four of the six major awards in its inaugural Big West season. Sadie Beardall was voted Offensive Player of the Year, Sam Curtis captured both Midfielder and Rookie of the Year honors, and Mia Owens collected Defensive Player of the Year recognition.

California Baptist's Mikayla O'Brien was selected as Goalkeeper of the Year, while UC San Diego's Kristin Jones was voted Coach of the Year.

Beardall powered the conference's highest-scoring attack with 12 goals and eight assists for a Big West-best 32 points. The South Ogden, Utah, native elevated the production during league play, leading all players with 11 goals and 29 points while adding seven assists. Beardall also collected three Big West Offensive Player of the Week awards as Utah Valley completed an unbeaten 9-0-2 conference campaign. In the latest NCAA statistical rankings through games of Nov. 1, Beardall stood 13th nationally in total points and was tied for 21st in goals and 25th in assists.

Curtis becomes UVU's first Big West Midfielder and Rookie of the Year after starting all 20 matches during a standout debut season. The Chesterfield, Mich., native supplied eight assists, tied for fourth in the conference, and finished with one goal and 10 points. Five of those assists came during Big West play, where Curtis helped the Wolverines average a league-leading 3.27 goals per match. The midfielder was also tied for 25th nationally in total assists. 

Owens anchored a Wolverine back line that conceded just 18 goals across 20 matches, posted seven shutouts and produced a 0.90 goals-against average. The San Clemente, Calif., native started every match, logged 1,699 minutes and added two goals. In conference play, UVU allowed only nine goals while going unbeaten and securing the outright regular-season title with 29 points.

O'Brien takes home Goalkeeper of the Year honors after leading The Big West with an .865 save percentage. The Fontana, Calif., native registered 64 saves, six shutouts and a 0.73 goals-against average across 15 appearances. O'Brien helped the Lancers lead the league with a 0.59 team goals-against average and 11 clean sheets during the regular season. The goalkeeper ranked 17th nationally in save percentage through games of Nov. 1.

Jones was voted Coach of the Year after guiding UCSD to an 11-3-5 overall record and a 7-1-3 conference mark in the program's first season of Big West postseason eligibility. The Tritons allowed a league-low seven goals during conference play, recorded five league shutouts and earned the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in their first Big West Championship appearance.

All-Big West First Team honors featured representation from Utah Valley, Cal State Fullerton, California Baptist and Long Beach State.

Beardall, Curtis and Owens are joined by Utah Valley teammates Josie Clawson and Nixan Jackson. Clawson scored eight goals, including four game-winners, and totaled 17 points. Jackson led The Big West with 12 assists while adding eight tallies for 28 points, the fourth-highest total in the conference. The Mapleton, Utah, native ranked second nationally in total assists, tied for fifth in assists per match and tied for 25th in total points. Together, the five Wolverines helped UVU lead the league with 49 goals and 155 points.

Long Beach State forward Cherrie Cox captured first-team distinction after leading The Big West with 14 goals and four match-winning strikes. The Torrance, Calif., native added two assists to finish second in the conference with 30 points while starting all 20 matches for the Beach. Cox was tied for 12th nationally in total goals and 17th in points through games of Nov. 1. The forward also became the all-time leading goalscorer in Long Beach State women's soccer history during the regular-season finale, scoring the 37th goal of the senior's career in a 1-1 draw.

California Baptist placed Taylor Held and Anja Jestrovic alongside O'Brien on the first team. Held started every match along the back line, scored a match-winning goal and helped the Lancers produce 11 shutouts. Jestrovic paced the CBU attack with seven goals, six assists and 20 points while producing three game-winning goals.

Cal State Fullerton earned four first-team selections in Camryn Cruz, Skye Johnson, Kaylin Raibon and Cassie Villanueva. Cruz recorded six goals and four assists for 16 points, while Johnson started all 19 matches, scored three times and supplied two match-winning goals from the back line. Raibon produced one goal and eight assists across 1,668 minutes on a stout back line, and Villanueva amassed seven goals and 10 assists for 24 points. Villanueva was tied for seventh nationally in both total assists and assists per match, while Raibon was tied for 25th in total assists. The quartet helped the Titans finish with a 7-1-3 mark in Big West play.

The All-Big West Second Team includes Long Beach State's Radisson Banks and Ameera White, Utah Valley's Madeleine Boucher, and Kate Shirts, Cal State Fullerton's Sail Bozinovic, UC Santa Barbara's Emily Caughey, UC San Diego's Alexis Nguyen, Leilah Raad and Olivia Shih, UC Irvine's Fiona Shin, and Cal Poly's Miah Thomas.

Banks compiled four goals and five assists for 13 points, while White produced five goals and eight assists for 18 points. White finished the regular season tied for 25th nationally in total assists. Boucher posted a 0.82 goals-against average, an .803 save percentage and six shutouts, and Shirts started all 20 matches, played 1,652 minutes and contributed two goals. Bozinovic totaled four tallies and five assists for 13 points, including a pair of game-winners.

Caughey started all 17 appearances for UCSB and recorded two goals, one assist and a game-winning strike across 1,501 minutes. Nguyen contributed four goals for UCSD, while Raad recorded two goals and four assists and helped the Tritons record eight clean sheets.

Shih started all 19 matches and tied for the UCSD lead with 13 points behind five goals and three assists. The Seattle, Wash., native contributed three goals and two assists in conference play and was twice named Big West Rookie of the Week. Shin led UC Irvine with five goals and 13 points, while Thomas paced Cal Poly with six goals and 13 points.

All-Big West honorable mention recognition went to forwards Natalie Oca and Ava Tibor of UC San Diego and Lia Peterson of CSUN. Oca finished with five goals and three assists for 13 points, Tibor supplied four goals and two assists for 10 points, and Peterson totaled six goals, three assists, and 15 points with three match-winning strikes.

The honorable-mention midfielders are Cadee Borg of UC San Diego, Jordan Candelaria of Long Beach State, Jaety Mandaquit of Sacramento State, and Mimi Yamamoto of UC Irvine. Candelaria started all 20 matches and logged 1,543 minutes; Mandaquit recorded four goals and an assist, and Yamamoto produced three goals and three assists.

Defenders Jenna Grider and Kat Harris of UC San Diego and Tylie Miller of Utah Valley also received honorable mention. Grider and Harris helped the Tritons allow only 16 goals and record eight shutouts, while Miller started 16 matches, played 1,219 minutes and distributed three assists.

UC San Diego goalkeeper Charlotte Wilfert rounds out the group after pacing The Big West with a 0.69 goals-against average and eight shutouts while making 69 saves. Wilfert finished the regular season tied for 23rd nationally in shutouts.

The 2026 Big West All-Rookie Team features Jana Akins of CSUN, Boucher and Curtis of Utah Valley, Allison Gonzalez and Alondra Talamantes of UC Santa Barbara, Jaelynn Hillenbrand of California Baptist, Kate Nunes of Cal Poly, Riley O'Brien and Jaidyn Williams of Cal State Fullerton, Allison Rabe of UC Irvine and Shih of UC San Diego.

Akins scored three goals during a debut campaign, while Gonzalez appeared in all 20 matches and logged 1,132 minutes with an assist. Talamantes contributed two goals, an assist, and a match-winning strike. Hillenbrand recorded a goal and an assist while helping CBU compile 11 clean sheets.

Nunes started all 19 matches on the pitch and totaled one goal and three assists, including three assists in Cal Poly's regular-season finale. O'Brien produced two goals and three assists across 19 appearances, Williams scored three times, and Rabe started all 18 matches while contributing one goal and one assist.

The 2026 Big West Women's Soccer Championship begins Wednesday, Nov. 4, with a pair of first-round matches hosted by the higher seeds. No. 6 seed CSUN visits No. 3 seed Cal State Fullerton at 6 p.m. PT, followed by No. 5 seed Cal Poly traveling to No. 4 seed California Baptist at 7 p.m. PT.

From there, the opening-round winners advance to Saturday's semifinals. Top-seeded Utah Valley will host the California Baptist-Cal Poly winner at 6 p.m. MT/5 p.m. PT, while No. 2 UC San Diego welcomes the Cal State Fullerton-CSUN winner at 7:30 p.m. PT.

The championship match will be played Saturday, Nov. 14, at the home of the higher remaining seed. Once again, the winner will earn The Big West's automatic berth into the 2026 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship.

The Big West 2026 Women's Soccer Awards and All-Conference Teams
Offensive Player of the Year: Sadie Beardall, Utah Valley
Midfielder of the Year: Sam Curtis, Utah Valley
Defensive Player of the Year: Mia Owens, Utah Valley
Goalkeeper of the Year: Mikayla O'Brien, California Baptist
Freshman of the Year: Sam Curtis, Utah Valley
Coach of the Year: Kristin Jones, UC San Diego
All-Big West First Team
Student-Athlete	Year	Position	Institution	Hometown
Sadie Beardall	Sr.	MF	Utah Valley	South Ogden, Utah
Josie Clawson	Sr.	MF	Utah Valley	American Fork, Utah
Cherrie Cox	Sr.	F	Long Beach State	Torrance, Calif.
Camryn Cruz	Sr.	MF	Cal State Fullerton	Long Beach, Calif.
Sam Curtis	Fr.	MF	Utah Valley	Chesterfield, Mich.
Taylor Held	Fifth	D	California Baptist	Aurora, Colo.
Nixan Jackson	Sr.	F	Utah Valley	Mapleton, Utah
Anja Jestrovic	Sr.	MF	California Baptist	Belgrade, Serbia
Skye Johnson	Jr.	D	Cal State Fullerton	Newport Beach, Calif.
Mikayla O'Brien	Fifth	GK	California Baptist	Fontana, Calif.
Mia Owens	Sr.	D	Utah Valley	San Clemente, Calif.
Kaylin Raibon	Sr.	D	Cal State Fullerton	Laguna Niguel, Calif.
Cassie Villanueva	Sr.	F	Cal State Fullerton	La Mirada, Calif.
All-Big West Second Team
Student-Athlete	Year	Position	Institution	Hometown
Radisson Banks	Sr.	F	Long Beach State	Bakersfield, Calif.
Madeleine Boucher	Fr.	GK	Utah Valley	Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Sail Bozinovic	Sr.	F	Cal State Fullerton	San Diego, Calif.
Emily Caughey	Sr.	D	UC Santa Barbara	Woodland Hills, Calif.
Alexis Nguyen	Sr.	MF	UC San Diego	Stevenson Ranch, Calif.
Jessie Halladay	Sr.	F	Cal Poly	Los Gatos, Calif.
Leilah Raad	Jr.	D	UC San Diego	Torrance, Calif.
Olivia Shih	R-Fr.	F	UC San Diego	Seattle, Wash.
Fiona Shin	So.	MF	UC Irvine	Hermosa Beach, Calif.
Kate Shirts	Jr.	D	Utah Valley	Orem, Utah
Miah Thomas	Jr.	MF	Cal Poly	Upland, Calif.
Ameera White	So.	MF	Long Beach State	San Diego, Calif.
Honorable Mention: F – Natalie Oca (UC San Diego), Lia Peterson (CSUN), Ava Tibor (UC San Diego); MF — Cadee Borg (UC San Diego), Jordan Candelaria (Long Beach State), Jaety Mandaquit (Sacramento State), Mimi Yamamoto (UC Irvine); D — Jenna Grider (UC San Diego), Kat Harris (UC San Diego), Tylie Miller (Utah Valley); GK — Charlotte Wilfert (UC San Diego)