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.
| 2023 WAC women's soccer tournament | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classification | Division I | ||||
| Teams | 6 | ||||
| Matches | 5 | ||||
| Attendance | 1,295 | ||||
| Site | CBU Soccer Field Riverside, California | ||||
| Champions | Grand Canyon (2nd title) | ||||
| Winning coach | Chris Cissell (2nd title) | ||||
| MVP | Gianna Gourley (Grand Canyon) | ||||
| Broadcast | ESPN+ | ||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Seeding edit
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 edit
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 edit
First round edit
| October 29 | #4 Grand Canyon | 3–0 | #5 Utah Tech | Riverside, CA |
| 4:00 p.m. PT |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: CBU Soccer Field |
| October 29 | #3 Seattle | 2–1 | #6 Southern Utah | Riverside, CA |
| 7:00 p.m. PT |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: CBU Soccer Field |
Semifinals edit
| November 1 | #1 Utah Valley | 1–2 | #4 Grand Canyon | Riverside, CA |
| 4:00 p.m. PT |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: CBU Soccer Field Attendance: 225 |
| November 1 | #2 California Baptist | 1–2 | #3 Seattle | Riverside, CA |
| 7:00 p.m. PT |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: CBU Soccer Field Attendance: 796 |
Final edit
| November 4 | #3 Seattle | 2–4 | #4 Grand Canyon | Riverside, CA |
| 1:00 p.m. PT |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: CBU Soccer Field Attendance: 274 |
Statistics edit
Goalscorers edit
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 edit
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 edit
- ^ Western Athletic Conference. "2022 WAC Women's Soccer Tournament". Retrieved June 12, 2023.
- ^ "Conference USA Adds Four Members" (Press release). Conference USA. November 5, 2021. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
- ^ Western Athletic Conference. "2023 WAC Women's Soccer Tournament". wacsports.com. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
- ^ "SU women's soccer falls in WAC championship". The Seattle Times. November 4, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
- ^ Western Athletic Conference. "2023 Women's Soccer Record Book" (PDF). wacsports.com. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
- ^ Western Athletic Conference. "2023 WAC Women's Soccer Tournament Bracket Announced". wacsports.com. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
- ^ Western Athletic Conference. "2023 WAC Women's Soccer Bracket" (PDF). wacsports.com. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
- ^ "Grand Canyon Captures 2023 WAC Women's Soccer Championship Title". wacsports.com. Western Athletic Conference. Retrieved January 11, 2024.