The 2023 Big West Conference men's soccer tournament was the postseason men's soccer tournament for the Big West Conference held on November 1 through 11, 2023. All rounds of the tournament were hosted at the higher seeds home stadium. The six-team single-elimination tournament consisted of three rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The defending champions were the UC Riverside Highlanders.[3] UC Riverside was unable to defend its crown, falling to UC Santa Barbara in the First Round, 3–2. Second seed UC Irvine would go on to win the tournament in a penalty shoot-out over UC Davis in the Final.[4][5] This was the fifth Big West tournament title for the UC Irvine program, and their first since 2013. The title was the first for head coach Yossi Raz.[6] As tournament champions, UC Irvine earned the Big West's automatic berth into the 2023 NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament.
| 2023 Big West Conference men's soccer tournament | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classification | Division I | ||||
| Teams | 6 | ||||
| Matches | 5 | ||||
| Attendance | 4,595 | ||||
| Site | Campus Sites (Higher Seed) | ||||
| Champions | UC Irvine (5th title) | ||||
| Winning coach | Yossi Raz (1st title) | ||||
| MVP | Oscar Cervantes[1] (UC Irvine) | ||||
| Broadcast | ESPN+[2] | ||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cal State Fullerton | 6 | – | 2 | – | 1 | 12 | – | 5 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Irvine ‡ | 5 | – | 3 | – | 1 | 9 | – | 7 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Santa Barbara | 4 | – | 3 | – | 2 | 10 | – | 8 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Davis | 4 | – | 4 | – | 1 | 9 | – | 7 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cal Poly | 3 | – | 3 | – | 3 | 5 | – | 8 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Riverside | 3 | – | 3 | – | 3 | 3 | – | 10 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cal State Bakersfield | 3 | – | 4 | – | 2 | 7 | – | 5 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC San Diego # | 3 | – | 5 | – | 1 | 4 | – | 11 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CSUN | 2 | – | 3 | – | 4 | 4 | – | 6 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sacramento State | 1 | – | 4 | – | 4 | 4 | – | 10 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches Source: Big West | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Seeding
editThe top six teams in the regular season earned a spot in the 2023 tournament. Teams were seeded based on regular season conference record and tiebreakers were used to determine seedings of teams that finished with the same record. The first and second seeds earned a bye into the Semifinals, and hosted their Semifinal game. A tiebreaker was required to determine the fifth and sixth seeds for the tournament as Cal Poly and UC Riverside both finished with identical 3–3–3 conference records. The teams played to a 1–1 draw during the regular season, so the second tiebreaker of goal differential was used. Cal Poly had a +5 goal differential and UC Riverside had a +1 goal differential. Therefore, Cal Poly earned the fifth seed, while UC Riverside was the sixth seed.[7]
| Seed | School | Conference Record | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cal State Fullerton | 6–2–1 | 19 |
| 2 | UC Irvine | 5–3–1 | 16 |
| 3 | UC Santa Barbara | 4–3–2 | 14 |
| 4 | UC Davis | 4–4–1 | 13 |
| 5 | Cal Poly | 3–3–3 | 12 |
| 6 | UC Riverside | 3–3–3 | 12 |
Bracket
editSource:[8]
| First round Wednesday, Nov. 1 | Semifinals Saturday, Nov. 4 | Final Saturday, Nov. 11 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Cal State Fullerton | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | UC Davis | 1 | 4 | UC Davis | 2 | |||||||||
| 5 | Cal Poly | 0 | 4 | UC Davis | 0 (7) | |||||||||
| 2 | UC Irvine (pen.) | 0 (8) | ||||||||||||
| 2 | UC Irvine (a.e.t.) | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | UC Santa Barbara | 3 | 3 | UC Santa Barbara | 1 | |||||||||
| 6 | UC Riverside | 2 | ||||||||||||
Schedule
editFirst Round
edit| November 1 | #4 UC Davis | 1–0 | #5 Cal Poly | Davis, CA |
| 3:00 p.m. PT |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Aggie Soccer Field Attendance: 407 Referee: Turan Ozdemir Assistant referees: Peter Hanson Robert Vincze Fourth official: Neal Rodgers |
| November 1 | #3 UC Santa Barbara | 3–2 | #6 UC Riverside | Santa Barbara, CA |
| 7:00 p.m. PT |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Harder Stadium Attendance: 923 Referee: William Hoffman Assistant referees: Israel Fernandez Steve Lane Fourth official: Matthew Tanious |
Semifinals
edit| November 4 | #2 UC Irvine | 2–1 | #3 UC Santa Barbara | Irvine, CA |
| 6:00 p.m. PT |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Anteater Stadium Attendance: 809 Referee: Brandon Stevis Assistant referees: William Delgado Abdu Razzaq Juma Fourth official: Irving Navarro |
| November 4 | #1 Cal State Fullerton | 1–2 (a.e.t.) | #4 UC Davis | Fullerton, CA |
| 7:00 p.m. PT |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Titan Stadium Attendance: 1,047 Referee: Rene Nunez Assistant referees: Israel Fernandez Rafael Bonilla Fourth official: Felix Granados |
Final
edit| November 11 | #2 UC Irvine | 0–0 (a.e.t.) (8–7 p) | #4 UC Davis | Irvine, CA |
| 6:00 p.m. PT |
|
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Stadium: Anteater Stadium Attendance: 1,409 Referee: Bernhard Hosu Assistant referees: Adrian Gonzalez Israel Fernandez Fourth official: Randy Hoffman | |
| Penalties | ||||
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Statistics
editGoalscorers
editThere were 12 goals scored in 5 matches, for an average of 2.4 goals per match (as of November 11, 2023).
1 goal
- Jorge Quintero – Cal State Fullerton
- Scott Buie – UC Davis
- Cason Goodman – UC Davis
- Chase Tanon – UC Davis
- Samuel Atiye – UC Irvine
- Eddy Berumen – UC Irvine
- Armando Ibarra Jr. – UC Riverside
- Noah Lopez – UC Riverside
- Salvador Aguilar – UC Santa Barbara
- Nicholas Hald Wilumsen – UC Santa Barbara
- Alexis Ledoux – UC Santa Barbara
- Nemo Philipp – UC Santa Barbara
References
edit- ^ Big West Conference (November 11, 2023). "No. 2 Seed UC Irvine Wins 2023 Big West Men's Soccer Championship". bigwest.org. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
- ^ Big West Conference (October 23, 2023). "The Big West Expands Fall Championship Broadcast Coverage". bigwest.org. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
- ^ Big West Conference. "2022 BIG WEST MEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT". bigwest.org. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
- ^ Big West Conference. "2023 BIG WEST MEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT". bigwest.org. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
- ^ Bryant, Victor (November 14, 2023). "UCSB Men's Soccer Wins Big West Championship". independent.com. Santa Barbara Independent. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
- ^ "Big West Conference Men's Soccer Records" (PDF). bigwest.org. Big West Conference. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
- ^ "Cal State Fullerton Wins Regular Season Crown and Top Seed as 2023 Big West Men's Soccer Championship Bracket Set". bigwest.org. Big West Conference. October 28, 2023. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
- ^ "2023 Big West Men's Soccer Championship". bigwest.org. Big West Conference. Retrieved February 8, 2024.