| 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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2023 Conference USA women's soccer tournament was the postseason women's soccer tournament for Conference USA held from November 1 through November 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 were the UTSA Roadrunners.[1] USTA was unable to defended their title as they moved to the American Athletic Conference in 2023.[2] The Liberty Flames won the title by defeating New Mexico State 2–1 in the final.[3] The conference championship was the first for the Liberty women's soccer program and first for head coach Lang Wedemeyer as it was their first season in the conference.[4] As tournament champions, Liberty earned C-USA's automatic berth into the 2023 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament.[5]
Seeding
Six Conference USA schools participated in the tournament. Teams were seeded by conference record. No tiebreakers were required as all teams finished with unique conference records.[6]
| 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
Source:[7]
| Quarterfinals November 1 | Semifinals November 3 | Championship November 5 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | New Mexico State | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Western Kentucky | 2 | 5 | FIU | 0 | |||||||||
| 5 | FIU | 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
First Round
| 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
| 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
| 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
Goalscorers
There 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
Source:[8]
| 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
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ "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.