SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (Sept. 13, 2023) – The UC Santa Barbara Women's Soccer team is set to wrap up their four-match home stand this weekend with the Blue-Green rivalry against Cal Poly on Thursday, Sept. 14 and their last non-conference contest of the season against Saint Mary's on Sunday, Sept. 17.
 
Thursday's match against Cal Poly will kick off the UC Santa Barbara Soccer Hispanic Heritage Celebration in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month beginning on Friday, Sept. 15. It will also be Revolution Night and any player that comes to the match in their Revolution Club jersey gets in free!
 
In Sunday's match against Saint Mary's the UC Santa Barbara Women's Soccer team will welcome local faith groups to Harder Stadium in recognition of their Non-Profit / Faith Day game.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Gauchos come into the match 2-2-4 after picking up a tie against San Francisco and a win over Idaho last week. Thursday's match will be the 34th meeting between the Gauchos and Mustangs, with Cal Poly leading the series 8-17-8.
 
UC Santa Barbara and Saint Mary's will meet for the 21st time with UC Santa Barbara narrowly leading the all-time series at 10-9-1. The Gaels will host Sacramento State on Thursday, Sept. 14 before traveling to Santa Barbara on Sunday.
 
SCOUTING THE GAUCHOS
After starting their home stand 1-0-1 and getting back in the win column the Gauchos now hold a 2-2-4 overall record and currently sit second in The Big West standings. UC Santa Barbara will start their conference slate this week with the always exciting, Blue-Green Rivalry on Thursday. The Gauchos will wrap up their non-conference slate with West Coast Conference opponent, Saint Mary's on Sunday.
 
Haley Phillips netted the game-winning goal in the win over Idaho on Sunday, Sept. 10. With the goal she now is tied for second on the team in points and goals, while ranking tied for first in assists. In the match over Idaho, the Gauchos recorded just one shot on goal, with it finding the back of the net. O'Callaghan Liu got on the stat sheet assisting on the Phillips goal earning her first assist on the season.
 
The back line, along with keepers Sabrina Hinz and Taylor Little have held opponents to an average of one goal per game while posting two clean sheets over eight games. Little earned her first collegiate shutout on Sunday against Idaho.
 
SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS
The Mustangs lead the all-time series against UC Santa Barbara 17-8-8 and have won the last two meetings. Over the last six matchups, the Mustangs are unbeaten against the Gauchos posting a record of 2-0-4.
 
The Mustangs return 15 letterwinners and four All-Big West honorees from the 2022 squad. They also added 15 newcomers - 12 freshmen and three transfers. Leading the way for the Mustangs is Jessie Halladay who has netted two goals and posted one assist for a total of five points so far this season. Cal Poly has four other players that have found the back of the net on the season.
 
Camryn Penn, Emma Brown and Aynsley Conner make up an experienced-laden backline for the Mustangs. Between the trio, they boast 95 career appearances and 88 starts. Brown was an All-Big West Preseason selection for Cal Poly.
 
SCOUTING THE GAELS
Saint Mary's comes into the weekend 5-2-1 overall with their final two non-conference games on deck. The Gaels will play Sacramento State on Thursday, Sept. 14 before traveling to play the Gauchos on Sunday, Sept. 17.
 
The Gaels shutout No. 15 Washington State to hand them their first loss of the season and it was the first time since 2011 that Saint Mary's has won over a top-25 ranked team. Briana Salvetti tops the Gaels with six goals and four assists on the season. Another threat to look out for is Savannah Schwarze who has tallied three goals and an assist.
 
On defense for Saint Mary's, Taylor Poland has played and started all but one match in net. The senior goalkeeper has recorded 26 saves and posts a 1.43 goals-against average with a 4-2-1 record. She was also an All-WCC Honorable Mention selection last season.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
Thursday's match will kick off at 7 p.m. from Harder Stadium while Sunday's match will kick off at noon. Both matches will be streamed through ESPN+ with live stats available through ucsbgauchos.com.