2023 WAC women's soccer tournament

2023 WAC women's soccer tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Teams6
Matches5
Attendance1,295
SiteCBU Soccer Field
Riverside, California
ChampionsGrand Canyon (2nd title)
Winning coachChris Cissell (2nd title)
MVPGianna Gourley (Grand Canyon)
BroadcastESPN+
WAC women's soccer tournament
«2022  2024»
2023 WAC women's soccer standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT
Utah Valley  ‍†‍‍ 7 – 0 – 2   .889 10 – 4 – 5   .658
California Baptist  ‍‍‍ 6 – 0 – 3   .833 11 – 2 – 6   .737
Seattle  ‍‍‍ 6 – 2 – 1   .722 10 – 9 – 2   .524
Grand Canyon  ‍‍‡‍y 5 – 1 – 3   .722 14 – 5 – 4   .696
Utah Tech  ‍‍‍ 3 – 2 – 4   .556 8 – 7 – 5   .525
Southern Utah  ‍‍‍ 3 – 5 – 1   .389 3 – 11 – 5   .289
Abilene Christian  ‍‍‍ 2 – 6 – 1   .278 7 – 9 – 2   .444
UT Rio Grande Valley  ‍‍‍ 1 – 6 – 2   .222 3 – 10 – 4   .294
Stephen F. Austin  ‍‍‍ 1 – 6 – 2   .222 2 – 14 – 2   .167
Tarleton State  ‍‍‍ 1 – 7 – 1   .167 4 – 12 – 3   .289
† – Conference champion
‡ – 2023 WAC Tournament champion
y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament
As of December 5, 2023
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches Poll
Source: WAC

The 2023 Western Athletic Conference women's soccer tournament was the postseason women's soccer tournament for the Western Athletic Conference held from October 29 to November 4, 2023. The five-match tournament took place at CBU Soccer Field in Riverside, California on the campus of California Baptist University. The six-team single-elimination tournament consisted of three rounds based on seeding from regular-season divisional conference play. The defending champions were the New Mexico State Aggies.[1] New Mexico State was unable to defend their title as they moved to Conference USA during the off-season.[2] Grand Canyon would go on to defeat Seattle in the Final, 4–2 to win the tournament.[3][4] This was the second WAC Tournament victory in Grand Canyon program history, both of which have come under head coach Chris Cissell. This was the second tournament title in three years for Grand Canyon.[5] As tournament champions, Grand Canyon earned the WAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Seeding

The top six teams from regular season play qualified for the 2023 Tournament. Teams were seeded based on regular season conference records and the top two seeds earned a bye into the semifinal round. No tiebreakers were required as each of the top six teams finished with unique conference records.[6]

Seed School Conference Record Points
1 Utah Valley 7–0–2 23
2 California Baptist 6–0–3 21
3 Seattle 6–2–1 20
4 Grand Canyon 5–1–3 18
5 Utah Tech 3–2–4 13
6 Southern Utah 3–5–1 10

Bracket

Source:[7]

First round
Sunday, Oct. 29 		Semifinals
Wednesday, Nov. 1 		Final
Sunday, Nov. 4
1 Utah Valley 1
4 Grand Canyon 3 4 Grand Canyon 2
5 Utah Tech 0 4 Grand Canyon 4
3 Seattle 2
2 California Baptist 1
3 Seattle 2 3 Seattle 2
6 Southern Utah 1

Matches

First round

October 29 #4 Grand Canyon 3–0 #5 Utah Tech Riverside, CA
4:00 p.m. PT
  • Bekah Valdez 19'
  • Gianna Gourley 57', 76'
  • Magdalena Schwarz Yellow card 87'
 Report
  • Yellow card 66' Kearney Hoggan
 Stadium: CBU Soccer Field
October 29 #3 Seattle 2–1 #6 Southern Utah Riverside, CA
7:00 p.m. PT
  • Caroline Penner 36'
  • Hallie Bergford 83'
  • Kacey LaBoda Yellow card 89'
 Report
  • 49' Whitney Gardner
 Stadium: CBU Soccer Field

Semifinals

November 1 #1 Utah Valley 1–2 #4 Grand Canyon Riverside, CA
4:00 p.m. PT
  • Ruby Hladek 61'
 Report
  • 25' Utah Valley Own Goal
  • 88' Lindsey Prokop
 Stadium: CBU Soccer Field
Attendance: 225
November 1 #2 California Baptist 1–2 #3 Seattle Riverside, CA
7:00 p.m. PT
  • Lourdes Bosch Yellow card 43'
  • Kaylee Hauck Yellow card 65'
  • Sonja Lux 81' (pen.)
 Report
  • 35' Kait Raffensperger
  • Yellow card 41' Jourdyn Curran
  • 58' Kaylee Coatney
 Stadium: CBU Soccer Field
Attendance: 796

Final

November 4 #3 Seattle 2–4 #4 Grand Canyon Riverside, CA
1:00 p.m. PT
  • Katie Piburn Yellow card 18'
  • Kaylee Coatney 75'
  • Emma de la Cruz 77'
 Report
  • 21' Bekah Valdez
  • 53' Leah Pirro
  • 62' Gianna Gourley
  • 67' Maddie Brady
  • Yellow card 86' Madison Hamm
 Stadium: CBU Soccer Field
Attendance: 274

Statistics

Goalscorers

There were 18 goals scored in 5 matches, for an average of 3.6 goals per match (as of November 5, 2023).

3 goals

  • Gianna Gourley – Grand Canyon

2 goals

  • Bekah Valedz – Grand Canyon
  • Kaylee Coatney – Seattle

1 goal

  • Sonja Lux – California Baptist
  • Maddie Brady – Grand Canyon
  • Leah Pirro – Grand Canyon
  • Lindsey Prokop – Grand Canyon
  • Hallie Bergford – Seattle
  • Emma de la Cruz – Seattle
  • Caroline Penner – Seattle
  • Kait Raffensperger – Seattle
  • Whitney Gardner – Southern Utah
  • Ruby Hladek – Utah Valley

1 own goal

  • Utah Valley (vs. Grand Canyon)

All-Tournament team

Source:[8]

Player Team
Lourdes Bosch California Baptist
Gianna Gourley Grand Canyon
DeAira Jackson
Leah Pirro
Lindsey Prokop
Bekah Valdez
Kaylee Coatney Seattle
Kassidy Kirgan
Kacey La Boda
Kait Raffensperger
Ruby Hladek Utah Valley

MVP in bold

References

  1. ^ Western Athletic Conference. "2022 WAC Women's Soccer Tournament". Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  2. ^ "Conference USA Adds Four Members" (Press release). Conference USA. November 5, 2021. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
  3. ^ Western Athletic Conference. "2023 WAC Women's Soccer Tournament". wacsports.com. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  4. ^ "SU women's soccer falls in WAC championship". The Seattle Times. November 4, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  5. ^ Western Athletic Conference. "2023 Women's Soccer Record Book" (PDF). wacsports.com. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  6. ^ Western Athletic Conference. "2023 WAC Women's Soccer Tournament Bracket Announced". wacsports.com. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  7. ^ Western Athletic Conference. "2023 WAC Women's Soccer Bracket" (PDF). wacsports.com. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  8. ^ "Grand Canyon Captures 2023 WAC Women's Soccer Championship Title". wacsports.com. Western Athletic Conference. Retrieved January 11, 2024.