Mustang News
Cal Poly Women’s Soccer defeated Hawaii 3-1 on Thursday, Oct. 24, at Mustang Memorial Field in their penultimate regular season home match.
The Mustangs (5-9-3, 3-4-1 Big West) had a rough outing in their last game, losing 2-0 to Cal State Bakersfield.
They responded with a convincing win over the current Big West leader, Hawaii (10-7-1, 6-1-1 Big West).
Specifically, the Cal Poly offense, which has struggled at times this season, fired on all cylinders, scoring two goals and receiving a little help from a Hawaii own goal.
“I thought it was great,” head coach Alex Crozier said. “We’re basically scoring by committee, and Jessie did a fantastic job centrally, and then we just created chances and we were able to get them done.”
Junior forward Jessie Halladay scored first for the Mustangs, converting her team-leading third penalty of the season after being fouled in the box in the 37th minute.
Halladay led the team in shots with five and consistently put herself in scoring position, helping the Mustangs create offense throughout the match.
“I think it’s a team effort,” Halladay said. “Getting our head on the first balls really helps put me in better opportunities to score, along with the forwards.”
The Mustang defense, on the other hand, was suffocating early, limiting Hawaii to two first-half shots.
Though the Rainbow Wahine found more second-half opportunities, including a 48th-minute goal, senior Mackenzie Samuel made five total saves to keep them from coming back.
Later in the game, Halladay received a corner kick from senior Kate Reedy and assisted junior midfielder Brennan Cole en route to Cal Poly’s third and final goal that put Hawaii away.
It was a much-needed win for the Mustangs, who still have playoff hopes.
Ahead of his final regular season home game on Sunday, coach Crozier only has the postseason tournament in mind.
“You know it hasn’t really hit me yet, because we’re just in the thick of trying to get into the conference tournament,” Crozier said. “We just got to get these guys recovered and ready for Sunday.”
In order to earn a bid to the 2024 Big West Championship tournament, Cal Poly will need to climb into the top six in the conference. They are currently tied for the sixth most points in the league, but with tiebreakers applied, they sit at ninth.
However, the difference between sixth and ninth place is only two points. Though they’d need to rely on the teams ahead of them losing, the Mustangs have a feasible shot to make the tournament within the final two games of the regular season.
Next, Cal Poly will play UC Davis on Sunday, Oct. 27, at 12 p.m. at Mustang Memorial Field, their final regular-season home game of the year and coach Crozier’s career.
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