Cal Poly Women’s Soccer fell to UC Davis 2-0 in head coach Alex Crozier‘s final home game of the season and his career on Sunday, Oct. 27, at Mustang Memorial Field.
The Mustangs (5-10-3, 3-5-1 Big West) couldn’t overcome the Aggies (12-4-2, 5-2-2 Big West), ending their chances to make the Big West tournament, a disappointing result for a team with high expectations going into the year.
Despite the final score, it was a day of celebration at Mustang Memorial Field, with longtime head coach Crozier taking the pitch for the final home game of his 33-year Cal Poly career.
“We had numerous chances, I thought we played well, we just didn’t win the game, and soccer is just like that sometimes,” Crozier said. “I was proud of their effort, the 90 minutes they played, and I can’t ask for more.”
The Mustangs were riding high coming into the matchup fresh off of a 3-1 win against the number one-seeded University of Hawaii.
They came out fast, similarly to their approach with Hawaii, outshooting the Aggies 13-3 in the first half.
Senior defender Emma Brown was an unlikely aggressor on the offensive end, just missing a chance at her first career collegiate goal on a shot off of the crossbar early on.
Brown, the 2023 Big West Defender of the Year, finished with three shots on the day, more than any of her season totals from her previous three years.
Junior forward/midfielder Jessie Halladay remained a focal point of the team’s offense, taking a team-high six shots and playing all 90 minutes.
As the game time approached the 90-minute mark, the Mustangs launched some last-minute pushes, spearheaded by senior forward/midfielder Kate Reedy and senior forward Emily Nedom off the edge. Still, they fell short of finding the goals they needed.
With the loss, the Mustangs sit three points behind number six seed UC Irvine for the last slot to get into the Big West Tournament.
CSUN and Long Beach State also remain ahead of Cal Poly with 12 and 11 points. Due to the tiebreaker held by Irvine and their draw with The Beach later on Sunday, a win next week wouldn’t be enough for the Mustangs to jump places.
Crozier reminisced about the past after the game’s conclusion, as many alumni congratulated him in person or via video presentation shown on the scoreboard.
“That was awesome, I really appreciate their support,” Crozier said. “I’ve always felt like soccer in itself is nothing if not about relationships. I’ve built a lot of good relationships from this job and I really enjoyed that part.”
He is by far the winningest coach in Big West history, with 325 across his career, all of which was at Cal Poly.
“I never wanted to leave,” Crozier said. “I went to school here, I met my wife here, we both love San Luis [Obispo] and we were able to make it work.”
The six-time Big West Coach of the Year took the program from a club sport to Division II and now Division I, winning 10 regular-season conference championships and three Big West tournament championships on the way.
Numerous alumni spoke about the lessons his coaching and the Cal Poly Women’s Soccer program have had on their lives.
“Basically, be on time, pay attention, be a good person, and that gets you through life,” Crozier said. “I’d like to think that they learned more being in the program than they do in any classroom.”
One game remains on the schedule, and the Mustangs will travel to UC San Diego to wrap up their season on Oct. 31 at 7 p.m.