California State University at Northridge
Cal State Fullerton
CSUN Ventures to Cal State Fullerton, Hosts UC Irvine
10/20/2015 3:14:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Matadors Face Anteaters Saturday, Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. at Matador Soccer Field
COMPLETE GAME NOTES IN PDF FORMAT
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. ---The CSUN Matadors (6-6-2, 2-3-1 Big West Conference) continues its run through the Big West Conference South Division with a pair of matches this week. On Wednesday, Oct. 21, CSUN travels to Orange County to square off with the Cal State Fullerton Titans in a 7 p.m. contest at Titan Stadium. Three days later, CSUN hosts UC Irvine in its penultimate regular season home match at Matador Soccer Field in 2015. Kickoff between the Matadors and Anteaters is slated for 7 p.m. and Jose Avalos and Eduard Cauich will be calling all the action against the Anteaters. Live stats will be available for both contests and the match at Cal State Fullerton will be broadcast on BigWest TV. Fans are also encouraged to check with the CSUN Athletic Department's official Twitter accounts (@GoMatadors, @CSUNMensSoccer and @CSUNCapeCrew) for updates throughout the weekend.
Last week, CSUN suffered a narrow 1-0 loss to Cal State Fullerton at Matador Soccer Field on Oct. 14. However, the Matadors rebounded sharply three days later by posting a 1-0 victory at UC Riverside. At 2-3-1 in the Big West South Division, the Matadors enter the week with seven points and a hold of second place in the standings.
Senior Carlos Gonzalez scored his team-high fifth goal of the season in the Matadors' victory over the Highlanders. Stuart Close and Juan Fernando Samayoa recorded assists on the play and senior goalkeeper Adam Hobbs made four saves to record his fourth shutout of the season and 13th of his career. CSUN is now 5-0-1 in its last six away matches.
The last week of regular season action will see CSUN hosting UC Riverside on Senior Day on Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. before traveling to UC Irvine for a 7 p.m. contest on Oct. 31 to conclude the regular season. Seeds for the 2015 Big West Tournament will be announced as soon as they become available.
A Closer Look at Cal State Fullerton
The Cal State Fullerton Titans enter Wednesday's contest at Matador Soccer Field with a 9-5-1 overall record and a 4-1-1 record in the Big West Conference. The Titans host UC Riverside on Saturday, Oct. 24 at Titan Stadium. Last week, Cal State Fullerton posted a 1-0 victory at CSUN before recording a 3-0 home win against UC Irvine.
Sophomore Diego Sanchez leads Cal State Fullerton with five goals, three assists and 13 points on the season. Brandon West, who has a team-high four assists, and Ross McPhie have each scored twice and eight other Titans have found the netting in 2015. Cal State Fullerton averages 12.1 shots per game and has 65 shots on goal for the season.
In net, junior David Elias has played every minute of action for the Titans and sports a 0.78 goals-against-average, 42 saves and a .778 save percentage. Cal State Fullerton has posted a league-best nine shutouts and averages 11.9 fouls per game. The Titans have received 17 yellow cards and two red cards over the course of the season thus far.
George Kuntz is in his second season as the head coach at Cal State Fullerton. The Matadors lead the all-time series with the Titans 21-17-3 and are 10-10-1 on the road in the series. CSUN's last win on the road in the series came in a 1-0 decision during the 2013 season.
A Closer Look at UC Irvine
The UC Irvine Anteaters enter the week with a 3-9-3 overall record and a 1-4-1 mark in the Big West Conference. Before coming to the San Fernando Valley for Saturday's tilt, UCI travels to the Inland Empire for a match at UC Riverside on Wednesday, Oct. 21 at Riverside Soccer Stadium at 7 p.m.
On offense, Eduardo Calzada, Ivan Canales and Jaime Phillips each have four goals on the season. Phillips leads the team with five assists and 13 points while Canales has 12 points and Calzada has 10 points. UC Irvine averages 13.6 shots per game and has taken a league-high 86 corner kicks on the season.
In net, Michael Breslin has played all but 16 minutes for the Anteaters this season. He owns a league-high 63 saves and also sports three shutouts, a 1.70 goals-against-average and a .700 save percentage on the season. UC Irvine has received 27 yellow cards and five red cards this year while averaging 13.2 fouls per contest.
CSUN leads the all-time series with UC Riverside 21-19-5 and is 10-10-1 at home in the series. The last CSUN victory at Matador Soccer Field in the series came in a 2-0 decision in the 2014 season.
Matador Team Notes
CSUN checks in at 55 in the latest NCAA Division I men's soccer RPI that was released on Oct. 19 ... CSUN is 5-2-1 when it has more saves than its opponent ... CSUN is 5-5-1 when it is tied or trailing at halftime ... Adam Hobbs is 15th in Division I with 61 saves on the season ... he also ranks 39th in the nation in save percentage (.803) ... as a team, the Matadors rank 25th in the nation with an .810 save percentage ... the CSUN team has been credited with three saves this season ... Stuart Close recorded his first career assist and point in the Matadors' 1-0 victory at UC Riverside on Oct. 17 ... as a team, CSUN ranks 71st in Division I with a 1.03 goals-against-average ... CSUN has 21 assists on the year, the fourth-most in the Big West Conference.
Next Week
CSUN closes out its 2015 regular season schedule with a home match against UC Riverside on Oct. 28 and an road contest at UC Irvine on Oct. 31. The match with the Highlanders will be Senior Day for the Matadors and the team will honor its seven seniors on the 2015 roster in a pre-game ceremony: Adam Hobbs, Benjamin Asor, Trevor Morley, Tanner Snedigar, Carlos Gonzalez, David Turcios and Victor Vasquez.
The Matadors will then learn their fate in the Big West Tournament. The dates for the event are Nov. 7 (Opening Round), Nov. 11 (Semifinals) and Nov. 14 (Big West Championship). The Big West Championship will be broadcast live on FoxSports Primeticket.
