The 2023 Conference USA women's soccer tournament was the postseason women's soccer tournament for Conference USA (CUSA) held from November 1–5, 2023. The five-match tournament took place at Robert Mack Caruthers Field in Ruston, Louisiana. The six-team single-elimination tournament consisted of three rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The defending champions, the UTSA Roadrunners,[1] could not defend their title as they moved to the American Athletic Conference in July 2023.[2] The Liberty Lady Flames won the title by defeating New Mexico State 2–1 in the final.[3] The conference championship in Liberty's first CUSA season was the eighth overall for the program, with six having been won in the Big South Conference and one in the Atlantic Sun Conference,[4] and the first for head coach Lang Wedemeyer.[5] As tournament champions, Liberty earned CUSA's automatic berth into the 2023 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament.[6]
| 2023 Conference USA women's soccer tournament | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classification | Division I | ||||
| Teams | 6 | ||||
| Matches | 5 | ||||
| Attendance | 1,242 | ||||
| Site | Robert Mack Caruthers Field Ruston, Louisiana | ||||
| Champions | Liberty (1st title) | ||||
| Winning coach | Lang Wedemeyer (1st title) | ||||
| MVP | Rachel DeRuby (Offensive) Ainsley Leja (Defensive) (Liberty) | ||||
| Broadcast | ESPN+ | ||||
| |||||
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | W | L | T | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Mexico State † | 6 | – | 0 | – | 2 | .875 | 10 | – | 6 | – | 3 | .605 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Liberty ‡y | 5 | – | 2 | – | 1 | .688 | 16 | – | 3 | – | 1 | .825 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Western Kentucky | 4 | – | 2 | – | 2 | .625 | 6 | – | 5 | – | 7 | .528 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIU | 3 | – | 2 | – | 3 | .563 | 8 | – | 6 | – | 4 | .556 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sam Houston | 3 | – | 3 | – | 2 | .500 | 6 | – | 7 | – | 4 | .471 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Louisiana Tech | 2 | – | 4 | – | 2 | .375 | 6 | – | 11 | – | 3 | .375 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Middle Tennessee | 2 | – | 5 | – | 1 | .313 | 6 | – | 9 | – | 3 | .417 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UTEP | 1 | – | 4 | – | 3 | .313 | 2 | – | 11 | – | 4 | .235 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jacksonville State | 1 | – | 5 | – | 2 | .250 | 6 | – | 9 | – | 2 | .412 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † – Conference champion ‡ – 2023 C-USA Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of December 5, 2023 Rankings from United Soccer Coaches Poll Source: Conference USA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Seeding
editSix CUSA schools participated in the tournament. Teams were seeded by conference record. No tiebreakers were required as all teams finished with unique conference records.[7]
| Seed | School | Conference Record | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Mexico State | 6–0–2 | 20 |
| 2 | Liberty | 5–2–1 | 16 |
| 3 | Western Kentucky | 4–2–2 | 14 |
| 4 | FIU | 3–2–3 | 12 |
| 5 | Sam Houston | 3–3–2 | 11 |
| 6 | Louisiana Tech | 2–4–2 | 8 |
Bracket
editSource:[8]
| Quarterfinals November 1 | Semifinals November 3 | Championship November 5 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | New Mexico State | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | FIU | 2 | 5 | Sam Houston | 0 | |||||||||
| 5 | Sam Houston | 3 | 1 | New Mexico State | 1 | |||||||||
| 2 | Liberty | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Liberty | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Western Kentucky | 0 | 6 | Louisiana Tech | 0 | |||||||||
| 6 | Louisiana Tech | 1 | ||||||||||||
Schedule
editFirst Round
edit| November 1 | #4 FIU | 2–3 | #5 Sam Houston | Ruston, LA |
| 4:30 p.m. CT |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Caruthers Field Referee: Elvis Osmanovic Assistant referees: William Torres Esteban Rosano Fourth official: Shane Butler |
| November 1 | #3 Western Kentucky | 0–1 | #6 Louisiana Tech | Ruston, LA |
| 7:00 p.m. CT | Report |
|
Stadium: Caruthers Field Attendance: 415 Referee: Richonne Clark Assistant referees: Gerson Lopez Lauren Aldrich Fourth official: Jose Cordova |
Semifinals
edit| November 3 | #1 New Mexico State | 2–0 | #5 Sam Houston | Ruston, LA |
| 4:30 p.m. CT |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Caruthers Field Referee: Shane Butler Assistant referees: Jonathan Barnes William Torres Fourth official: Daniel Radford |
| November 3 | #2 Liberty | 4–0 | #6 Louisiana Tech | Ruston, LA |
| 7:00 p.m. CT |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Caruthers Field Attendance: 610 Referee: Daniel Radford Assistant referees: Gerson Lopez Morgan Abbit Fourth official: Shane Butler |
Final
edit| November 5 | #1 New Mexico State | 1–2 | #2 Liberty | Ruston, LA |
| 1:00 p.m. CT |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Caruthers Field Attendance: 217 Referee: Timothy Debysingh Assistant referees: Morgan Abbit Gerson Lopez Fourth official: Shane Butler |
Statistics
editGoalscorers
editThere were 15 goals scored in 5 matches, for an average of 3 goals per match (as of November 5, 2023).
3 goals
- Rachel DeRuby – Liberty
- Gianna Valenti – New Mexico State
2 goals
- Saydie Holland – Liberty
1 goal
- Barbara Garcia – FIU
- Nikole Solis – FIU
- Chloe Marr – Liberty
- Kalli Matlock – Louisiana Tech
- Kennedy Baquero – Sam Houston
- Pam Murray – Sam Houston
- Landri Townsend – Sam Houston
All-Tournament team
editSource:[9]
| Player | Team |
|---|---|
| Rachel DeRuby* | Liberty |
| Allison Hansford | |
| Saydie Holland | |
| Ainsley Leja^ | |
| Xitlaly Hernandez | New Mexico State |
| Loma McNeese | |
| Gianna Valenti | |
| Kalli Matlock | Louisiana Tech |
| Josie Studer | |
| Andrea Nugent | Sam Houston |
| Landri Townsend |
* Offensive MVP
^ Defensive MVP
References
edit- ^ Conference USA. "2022 Women's Soccer Championship". Retrieved February 15, 2023.
- ^ "American Announces Entrance Agreements With Incoming Members for 2023-24 Season" (Press release). American Athletic Conference. June 16, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
- ^ Conference USA. "2023 Women's Soccer Championship". Retrieved December 20, 2023.
- ^ "Liberty Wins Conference USA Women's Soccer Title With a 2-1 Victory over New Mexico State" (Press release). Liberty University Athletics. November 5, 2023. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
- ^ "Conference USA Women's Soccer Record Book" (PDF). Conference USA. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
- ^ Garcia, Emilio (November 5, 2023). "NM State women's soccer falls to Liberty in CUSA Championship". KTSM-TV. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
- ^ "WSOC: Bracket Set for 2023 CUSA Championship". conferenceusa.com. Conference USA. October 29, 2023. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
- ^ "2023 Conference USA Women's Soccer Championship Bracket" (PDF). conferenceusa.com. Conference USA. November 5, 2023. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
- ^ "WSOC: Holland's Late Goal Lifts Liberty to CUSA Championship Title". conferenceusa.com. Conference USA. November 5, 2023. Retrieved December 20, 2023.