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2023 Conference USA women's soccer tournament

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2023 Conference USA women's soccer tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Teams6
Matches5
Attendance1,242
SiteRobert Mack Caruthers Field
Ruston, Louisiana
ChampionsLiberty (1st title)
Winning coachLang Wedemeyer (1st title)
MVPRachel DeRuby (Offensive)
Ainsley Leja (Defensive) (Liberty)
BroadcastESPN+
Conference USA women's soccer tournament
«2022  2024»
2023 Conference USA women's soccer standings
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 (CUSA) held from November 1–5, 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, the UTSA Roadrunners,[1] could not defend their title as they moved to the American Athletic Conference in July 2023.[2] The Liberty Lady Flames won the title by defeating New Mexico State 2–1 in the final.[3] The conference championship in Liberty's first CUSA season was the eighth overall for the program, with six having been won in the Big South Conference and one in the Atlantic Sun Conference,[4] and the first for head coach Lang Wedemeyer.[5] As tournament champions, Liberty earned CUSA's automatic berth into the 2023 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament.[6]

Seeding

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Six CUSA schools participated in the tournament. Teams were seeded by conference record. No tiebreakers were required as all teams finished with unique conference records.[7]

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

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Source:[8]

Quarterfinals
November 1
Semifinals
November 3
Championship
November 5
1 New Mexico State 2
4 FIU 2 5 Sam Houston 0
5 Sam Houston 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

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First Round

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November 1 #4 FIU 2–3 #5 Sam Houston Ruston, LA
4:30 p.m. CT
  • Nikole Solis 32'
  • Barbara Garcia 44'
Report
  • 8' Kennedy Baquero
  • 9' Pam Murray
  • 13' Landri Townsend
Stadium: Caruthers Field
Referee: Elvis Osmanovic
Assistant referees: William Torres
Assistant referees: Esteban Rosano
Fourth official: Shane Butler
November 1 #3 Western Kentucky 0–1 #6 Louisiana Tech Ruston, LA
7:00 p.m. CT Report
  • Yellow card 37' Madita Ehrig
  • 40' Kalli Matlock
Stadium: Caruthers Field
Attendance: 415
Referee: Richonne Clark
Assistant referees: Gerson Lopez
Assistant referees: Lauren Aldrich
Fourth official: Jose Cordova

Semifinals

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November 3 #1 New Mexico State 2–0 #5 Sam Houston Ruston, LA
4:30 p.m. CT
  • Mya Hammack Yellow card 46'
  • Gianna Valenti 59', 88'
  • Carolina Rodriguez Yellow card 69'
  • Team Yellow card 87'
Report
  • Yellow card 43' Andrea Nugent
Stadium: Caruthers Field
Referee: Shane Butler
Assistant referees: Jonathan Barnes
Assistant referees: William Torres
Fourth official: Daniel Radford
November 3 #2 Liberty 4–0 #6 Louisiana Tech Ruston, LA
7:00 p.m. CT
  • Saydie Holland 25'
  • Rachel DeRuby 47', 75' (pen.)
  • Allison Hansford Yellow card 55'
  • Chloe Marr 71'
Report
  • Yellow card 60' Carmen Suarez
  • Yellow card 75' Yellow-red card 90' Emma Duguay
Stadium: Caruthers Field
Attendance: 610
Referee: Daniel Radford
Assistant referees: Gerson Lopez
Assistant referees: Morgan Abbit
Fourth official: Shane Butler

Final

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November 5 #1 New Mexico State 1–2 #2 Liberty Ruston, LA
1:00 p.m. CT
  • Megan Ormson Yellow card 13'
  • Gianna Valenti 35'
  • Ariana Leamons Yellow card 80'
  • Xitlaly Hernandez Yellow card 86'
Report
  • 19' (pen.) Rachel DeRuby
  • 86' Saydie Holland
Stadium: Caruthers Field
Attendance: 217
Referee: Timothy Debysingh
Assistant referees: Morgan Abbit
Assistant referees: Gerson Lopez
Fourth official: Shane Butler

Statistics

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Goalscorers

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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

[edit]

Source:[9]

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

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  1. ^ Conference USA. "2022 Women's Soccer Championship". Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  2. ^ "American Announces Entrance Agreements With Incoming Members for 2023-24 Season" (Press release). American Athletic Conference. June 16, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  3. ^ Conference USA. "2023 Women's Soccer Championship". Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  4. ^ "Liberty Wins Conference USA Women's Soccer Title With a 2-1 Victory over New Mexico State" (Press release). Liberty University Athletics. November 5, 2023. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  5. ^ "Conference USA Women's Soccer Record Book" (PDF). Conference USA. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  6. ^ Garcia, Emilio (November 5, 2023). "NM State women's soccer falls to Liberty in CUSA Championship". KTSM-TV. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  7. ^ "WSOC: Bracket Set for 2023 CUSA Championship". conferenceusa.com. Conference USA. October 29, 2023. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  8. ^ "2023 Conference USA Women's Soccer Championship Bracket" (PDF). conferenceusa.com. Conference USA. November 5, 2023. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  9. ^ "WSOC: Holland's Late Goal Lifts Liberty to CUSA Championship Title". conferenceusa.com. Conference USA. November 5, 2023. Retrieved December 20, 2023.