Big West Women's Soccer Tournament Takes Center Stage

Files associated with this release:
Women's Soccer Weekly Release No. 12

Cal State Northridge is hosting a Big West Women's Soccer Tournament match for the first time in school history.

Four teams battle for an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament as Cal Poly, Cal State Northridge, UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Northridge participate in the Big West Women's Soccer Tournament this week.  No. 1 Cal Poly hosts No. 4 UC Irvine and No. 2 Cal State Northridge welcomes No. 3 UC Santa Barbara as semifinal action begins on Thursday.  The championship match is Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

NOTEWORTHY

Keep An Eye On

Coral Hoover, Cal Poly
Hoover is having an amazing senior season for Cal Poly.  The netminder recorded her 10th shutout of the year as the Mustangs won 2-0 at UC Santa Barbara to clinch the Big West regular season title on Sunday.  The 10 shutouts ties her for second all-time in a Big West single-season.  She is one away from tying the conference record of 11 owned by Long Beach State’s Liz Ramos (2006) and Cal State Northridge’s Jenny Willemse (2001).  In addition, her 0.59 goals against average is currently the second-lowest all-time in Big West single-season history.  Hoover ranks fourth in the nation with a .917 save percentage.

MORE NOTABLES

Cal Poly Wins Sixth Big West Regular Season Title
Cal Poly captured its sixth regular season conference title on the final day of the league ledger with a 2-0 win at Central Coast rival UC Santa Barbara.  The Mustangs have won more regular season titles than any other Big West member since the conference began sponsoring women’s soccer in 1996.  All six titles – 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2009 – have been won outright.  Cal State Fullerton, which has won five titles, shared the championship on two occasions.

MOST BIG WEST REGULAR SEASON TITLES
Cal Poly                       6
Cal State Fullerton      5
Long Beach State       3
UC Santa Barbara      2
Pacific                         1

Mustangs Look To End Tournament Drought
Cal Poly enters the Big West Tournament as the No. 1 seed and hosts No. 4 seed UC Irvine on Thursday.  It is the first time the Mustangs have hosted a Big West Tournament match in the nine years the conference has held the postseason shindig.  CP is the most successful club in tournament history with an all-time record of 9-2-2, including an unbeaten mark of 6-0-1 in semifinal matches.  However, the Mustangs are looking for their first tournament championship since 2004.  Penalty kick shootouts have been Cal Poly’s kryptonite the last two seasons, falling to UC Santa Barbara in the 2008 semifinals and Cal State Fullerton in the 2007 championship.

MOST BIG WEST TOURNAMENT TITLES
Cal Poly                     3
Cal State Fullerton     3
UC Irvine                    1
UC Santa Barbara     1

Looking At The Tournament Matchups
UC Irvine at Cal Poly - The Anteaters and Mustangs are meeting for the fourth time in tournament annals.  Cal Poly leads 2-1, defeating UCI 2-0 in the championship in the tournament’s inaugural year in 1996, as well as the 2003 semifinals (2-0).  The Anteaters earned a 3-2 double overtime victory in the 1997 championship.  Cal Poly leads the overall series 14-5-2 and has captured the last eight meetings, including a 3-2 double overtime affair on Oct. 4 in Irvine.

UC Santa Barbara at Cal State Northridge - The two teams met once before in the Big West Tournament, as the Gauchos came away with a 4-2 triumph in the 2004 semifinals.  That was Cal State Northridge’s only tournament appearance under then-head coach Terry Davila.  The Matadors return to the tourney field in 2009 under third-year head coach Keith West, facing a Gaucho program that is appearing in the tournament for the third time in the last four seasons.  UCSB is 2-3-2 all-time.  The Gauchos captured their first and only tournament title last season when they advanced on penalty kicks in both the semifinals and championship.  UCSB leads the all-time series matchup against CSUN 11-4-0.  The Gauchos have won eight of the last nine meetings, including a 3-2 triumph in Northridge on Oct. 4.

More Mustang Tidbits
Cal Poly enters the Big West Tournament riding a seven-game winning streak.  The Mustangs also have won 11 of their last 12 games.  Cal Poly’s last six wins have all come by shutout.  The last time CP allowed a goal was on Oct. 4 against UC Irvine.

Jacobo’s Impressive Streak
Cal State Northridge posted its highest ever finish in the Big West standings – second place – going 6-2-0.  The Matadors seemed to be in a bit of trouble early on in the conference schedule when their top two goalkeepers were befelled by injury.  CSUN used a third string goalkeeper in a 1-0 loss to Pacific on Oct. 9, then turned to a fourth netminder who wasn’t even on the active roster prior to the UC Davis game on Oct. 11.  Cynthia Jacobo gave up her redshirt year to take over starting goalie duties, and all she has done is not allow a goal in over 500 minutes of action.  Jacobo recorded five straight shutouts against league opposition.

Kugler Having Solid Season
Junior Kailyn Kugler is a key reason for UC Santa Barbara’s recent stretch of success – 5-2-1 in its last eight games.  Despite being held scoreless in the regular season finale versus Cal Poly, the native of San Clemente, Calif. has scored seven goals in that eight game span.  She leads the team and ranks second in the Big West with nine goals.  In fact, Kugler has accounted for a majority of UCSB’s 24 goals on the season, an astounding 37.5%.

Anteater Anecdotes
UC Irvine, which leads the Big West in goals (37) and goals per game (1.85), has scored two or more goals in 11 of its 12 wins this season.  The Anteaters are 1-4-2 in games they score one goal or less.

deSeriere Posts Career Shutout No. 20
UC Irvine junior goalkeeper Danielle deSeriere took over sole possession of ninth place in Big West career shutouts when she posted her 20th in a 3-0 win against Long Beach State on Thursday.  deSeriere ranks second in the conference with eight clean sheets this season.  She also sports a solid 0.93 goals against average.

BIG WEST CAREER SHUTOUTS
34    Liz Ramos, Long Beach State              2005-08
28    Kim McCaskey, Pacific                         1997-99
27    Tawny Poggio, UC Riverside                2003-06
26    Karen Bardsley, Cal State Fullerton      2002-06
24    Jamie Considine, UC Santa Barbara    2002-05
23    Liz Hill, Cal Poly                                    2002-05
22    Jaime Souza, Pacific                            2004-07
22    Greta Shirdon, Cal Poly                       2000-03
20    Danielle deSeriere, UC Irvine            2007-present
19    Natalia Garcia, Cal Poly                       1996-00

Big West Live Comes To Twitter
The Big West Conference is excited to bring Big West Live to Twitter, a Twitter feed designed to give fans an in-the-stands view of select Big West Events.  Bringing near-instantaneous photos, commentary, and updates, Big West Live is the first feed of its kind.  Moving beyond the scores and stats, Big West Live delivers the “color” of Big West events.  Big West Live will be in action for both semifinal contests of the conference tournament as well as Sunday’s championship match.

Follow Your Team On BigWest.TV
The Big West Conference and the CBS College Sports Network are partnering to bring you exclusive coverage of Big West sports, press conferences, interviews, and features to your home via the Internet!  Now in its fifth year, BigWest.TV covers every home and conference contest in men’s basketball as well as women’s basketball and volleyball.  Also covered are select contests in men’s and women’s soccer, baseball, softball, and Big West Conference Championships.  A monthly subscription of $9.95 or an annual subscription of $79.95 delivers exclusive coverage to you.  If you can’t make it to the gym or the field, you can still catch all the action on BigWest.TV!