Thursday, November 3
San Luis Obispo, Calif.
7 p.m.

Long Beach State University

at

Cal Poly

Big West WSOC UCSB Long Beach St

Women’s Soccer Set for Semi-Final Matchup with Top-Seeded Cal Poly

11/2/2022 12:52:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Long Beach State is heading back to San Luis Obispo for their second match of The Big West Championships.

LONG BEACH, Calif. – After a double overtime thriller victory in the First Round of The Big West Championships, Long Beach State is headed to San Luis Obispo for their semi-final with regular season champion Cal Poly. The Thursday night matchup comes exactly two weeks after their regular season battle.
 
Thursday, November 3
(4) Long Beach State at (1) Cal Poly
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Mustang Memorial Field (San Luis Obispo, Calif.)
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FIRST ROUND VICTORY
• Long Beach State hosted their first round matchup with UC Santa Barbara to kickoff The Big West Championships and came out on top in a 2-1 double overtime thriller.
Lena Silano scored both goals for the Beach, the first being the fastest of a second half in a postseason game needing less than two minutes. Her second was the game-winner in the first overtime period. Alia Sinoff assisted on both scores becoming just the second LBSU player with multiple assists in a postseason match.
• The defense was outstanding, especially in the first half, with Zora Standifer making a pair of tremendous saves along with a team save from Aimee Medwin. Standifer ended the night with five saves.
 
WRAPPING UP THE REGULAR SEASON
• Long Beach State wound up fourth in The Big West standings posting a 5-2-3 record in league play. Overall, they were 6-6-6 with a 4-4-4 mark at home and 2-2-2 mark on the road.
• They went unbeaten through their first eight Big West matches, tying the longest streak in program history. Arguably the hardest ending to the season in the league, the Beach's final three contests of the regular season came against three postseason teams including both of the top two seeds.
• Statistically, the Beach was the top offense and it was not close. In conference matches they totaled 22 goals, 21 assists, and 65 overall points. They had five more goals and five more assists than the next closest team, and 15 more points.
 
LAST POSTSEASON MATCHUP
•The Beach will face the top-seeded Cal Poly Mustangs in Thursday's semi-final. The last time these two teams faced each other in a postseason match was in San Luis Obispo for the 2014 tournament.
• A tremendous defensive effort led Beach goalkeeper, Ashton McKeown, forced a scoreless contest through regulation and two overtime periods. In the shootout, Vania Roble converted on the fifth and a huge diving save from McKeown locked up the victory for LBSU and sent them to the finals.
 
HISTORY IN THE BIG WEST TOURNAMENT
• Long Beach State owns four Big West Tournament Championships, all within the last 12 seasons. Overall, they own 11 appearances counting this season, seven of which they made it to the finals. When playing as the four-seed, they own a perfect 3-0 mark including a pair of wins when they won the 2016 championship.
• In their 11 appearances, they are 9-4-3 and currently owns a five-match win streak in the Big West Championships with two wins and the title in both 2016 and 2018 prior to Sunday night's victory.
 
CONFERENCE AND NATIONAL STAT RANKINGS
• With the regular season officially over, Long Beach State ends the year as The Big West's highest scoring offense. Their 34 assists rank 40th in the NCAA and their 1.79 assists per game is 50th. They also rank 47th in total points and 55th in total goals.
• Individually, Lena Silano is still number one in the conference in virtually every category while ranking fifth in the the nation in total goals, sixth in total points, and eighth in both goals per game and points per game. Her four game-winners also ranks 22nd nationally.
• New to the national rankings is sophomore goalkeeper Zora Standifer. She now owns a Big West leading 0.818 save percentage which ranks 71st in the nation.
ALL-BIG WEST HONOREES
• The Big West announced their end of the year awards this past Saturday prior to the start of the postseason. Long Beach had five representatives on the list, including two of the top honors.
• Possibly one of the easiest votes in conference history, Lena Silano was named Offensive Player of the Year after leading the league in points, goals, shots, and ranked second in assists. She is the fifth in program history to garner the award and first since 2016.
• Cherrie Cox was the other top award recipient claiming Freshman of the Year. Her 15 points, five goals, and five assists all led The Big West freshmen class. She is the sixth in program history and gives LBSU back-to-back after Maddy Perez won the award last year.
• Maddy Perez and Silano were both named to the All-Big West First Team. Perez has been the heart and soul of the Beach backline leading the team in minutes for the second consecutive minutes, while adding in two goals and three assists.
• Julia Moore, in an outstanding debut season, was named All-Big West Second Team. The midfielder has totaled 1,492 minutes starting all 19 matches this year. She has notched a goal and two assists this season.
• The final recipient was Zora Standifer earning an Honorable Mention. The sophomore keeper took over the starting role toward the start of conference play and has posted a league-leading save percentage since.
 
ALTERING THE RECORD BOOKS
Lena Silano made history with her two goals on Sunday night. Now owning 16 goals for the season, she is tied for the single-season program record for goals scored with both Annette Fernandez (1984) and Nadia Link (2011). With one more goal, she will claim sole possession of the LBSU record and move into a tie for fifth in Big West history.
• Her nine shots in the last match also gave her 87 for the year, which passes Nadia Link for the single-season record. That mark ranks eight in Big West history.
• With another brace on Sunday, she now owns the most multi-goal performances for a career at the Beach (8) as well as in a single-season (5).
 
THE SILANO SHOW
Lena Silano has become one of the most prolific scorers in program history and even in conference history. In her final season, she is leading The Big West in points (38), goals (16), and second in assists (6).
• The senior had recorded at least one point in seven consecutive matches, but had the streak snapped at Cal Poly in the penultimate week of the season. She owns a point in 13 of the team's 19 matches this year after registering four more points in the First Round of The Big West Championships.
• She is currently the active Big West career leader in points, goals, goals per game, and shots while also ranking among the leaders in shots shots per game, points per game, and total assists.
 
THE CHERRIE ON TOP
• Freshman Cherrie Cox has made an immediate impact in her debut season at the Beach, playing her way into the starting lineup and becoming one of the top scorers in the entire conference. She currently leads The Big West freshmen in total points, goals, and assists and even ranks in the top five of all Big West players in each category as well.
• Prior to the matchup with Cal Poly in the regular season, she had scored a goal in four consecutive matches from 10/2 to 10/16.
 
ANCHOR IN THE BACK
• Maddy Perez is the reigning Big West Freshman of the Year and has continued to be a dominant force in the backfield for the Beach again as a sophomore. Starting in every single match this season, she leads the team in minutes for the second consecutive season.
• Serving as one of the center backs and primary taker of free kicks and corners, she is fifth on the team in total points with two goals and three assists thus far.
 
ZORA'S ZONE
• Zora Standifer took over the starting goalkeeper role after Houston-Shepherd was unfortunately injured, and the sophomore has taken full advantage of her increased time in net.
• Totaling 1048 minutes in net, she owns a Big West leading 0.818 save percentage and ranks third with a 1.030 goals against average. Her save percentage also ranks 71st in the entire nation.
 
GET EVERYONE INVOLVED
• Last year, the Beach totaled 58 points (goals+assists) on the season and had just 10 different student-athletes record at least one point. This year, they have a league-leading 104 points which is 23 more than the next highest team. It is just the fifth time in program history, they have reached the century mark.
• They also have a Big West leading 15 multi-point performances led by Silano's six and Cox's three. The two of them are the only two in the entire conference to have more than two such efforts.
 
SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS
• Cal Poly won their season finale to secure the outright regular season Big West championship, finishing with a 6-1-3 mark in league (9-6-3 overall). With the title, they are the top-seed and host of The Big West Championships this week.
• The Mustangs finished Big West play with a 17-6 goal advantage thanks to a league-leading 0.60 goals against average. Mackenzie Samuel (GK of the Year) and Camille Lafaix (MF of the Year) lead the team. Samuel led The Big West with a microscopic 0.407 goals against average with seven shutouts on the year while Lafaix paced her team with five goals and 11 total points.
• Long Beach State trails the all-time series 9-14-4 after a draw in their regular season matchup two weeks ago. However, the Beach won the last postseason meeting against the Mustangs in 2014.
 
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