2023 Conference USA women's soccer tournament explained

Year:2023
Conference:Conference USA
Gender:women's
Teams:6
Matches:5
Attendance:1,242
Venue:Robert Mack Caruthers Field
City:Ruston, Louisiana
Champions:Liberty
Titlecount:1st
Coach:Lang Wedemeyer
Coachcount:1st
Broadcast:ESPN+
Mvp:Rachel DeRuby (Offensive)
Ainsley Leja (Defensive)
Mvpteam:Liberty

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

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]

SeedSchoolConference RecordPoints
1New Mexico State6–0–220
2Liberty5–2–116
3Western Kentucky4–2–214
4FIU3–2–312
5Sam Houston3–3–211
6Louisiana Tech2–4–28

Bracket

Source:[8]

Schedule

Final

Statistics

Goalscorers

All-Tournament team

Source:[9]

Player Team
Rachel DeRuby*Liberty
Allison Hansford
Saydie Holland
Ainsley Leja^
Xitlaly HernandezNew Mexico State
Loma McNeese
Gianna Valenti
Kalli MatlockLouisiana Tech
Josie Studer
Andrea NugentSam Houston
Landri Townsend
* Offensive MVP
^ Defensive MVP

Notes and References

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