California State University at Northridge
UC Davis
CSUN Ventures North for Fixtures at UC Davis, Sacramento State
10/7/2015 10:41:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Matadors Face Pair of North Division Rivals
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NORTHRIDGE, Calif. --- The CSUN Matadors (4-5-1, 0-2 Big West) travels to Northern California this week for a pair of Big West Conference matches. On Thursday, Oct. 8, the Matadors will face the UC Davis Aggies in a 4 p.m. matinée at Aggie Soccer Field. The game will feature live stats and UC Davis will stream the match live on BigWest TV. Two days later, CSUN squares off with the Sacramento State Hornets in a 4 p.m. in the state capital. Live stats will be available for the contest from Hornet Field. Fans are encouraged to follow the CSUN Athletic Department's official Twitter accounts (@GoMatadors, @CSUNMensSoccer and @CSUNCapeCrew) for updates throughout the weekend.Â
Last week, CSUN dropped a pair of tough decisions at Matador Soccer Field to open Big West Conference play. The Matadors fell 1-0 to Cal Poly and then lost 2-1 to UC Santa Barbara in overtime. Dean Wright scored his second goal of the season in the contest with the Gauchos while Jeremy Degraffenreidt and Bradley Mulvey each recorded the first assists of their CSUN career.Â
CSUN continues to be anchored by a stout defense that has allowed more than one goal only once since Sept. 6 and the third-fewest goals (12) among all Big West squads. The Matadors have also won 15-straight matches when scoring at least two goals, a streak that dates back to the 2013 season. Over the last five-plus seasons, CSUN has posted 28 road or neutral-site victories, the second-most in the Big West Conference. The Matadors are 3-2 away from Matador Soccer Field in 2015.Â
Senior Carlos Gonzalez leads the team with four goals and eight points. Wright is second with six points thanks to two goals and two assists. Seven different Matadors have recorded their first career assists already in the 2015 season.
A Closer Look at UC Davis
The UC Davis Aggies enter the week with a 5-6-0 overall record and 1-1 mark in the Big West Conference. The Aggies opened their Big West slate with a 2-0 victory at UC Riverside before falling 1-0 at Cal State Fullerton. UC Davis checks in at 150 in the NCAA Division I RPI that was released on Oct. 5.Â
Senior Lucas Mohageg leads UC Davis with five goals, three assists and 13 points on the season. Fellow senior Matt Wisenfarth has two goals and two assists for six points while Ryan Gross, another senior, has three goals, one assist and seven points on the year. Roy Boateng has two goals and seven other Aggies have found the back of the net in their 11 games in 2015. UCD has posted 34 more shots than its opponents (162-128) and 19 more shots on goal (78-59).Â
In net, senior Kris Schultz has played the majority of minutes in net and is 4-4 on the season. He sports a 1.60 goals-against-average, 26 saves, a .634 save percentage and two shutouts on the season. The Aggies have committed 114 fouls on the season, an average of just over 10 fouls per game. UC Davis opponents have taken 35 more corner kicks (72-37) than the Aggies and UCD has received 18 yellow cards.Â
Dwayne Shaffer is in his 19th season as the head coach of UC Davis and the Aggies hold a narrow 7-6-3 edge in the all-time series. CSUN has won three-straight match-ups with UC Davis, although last season's contest at Matador Soccer Field finished in a 0-0 draw.
 A Closer Look at Sacramento State
The Sacramento State Hornets enter the week with a 3-6-1 overall record and 0-2 mark in Big West play after dropping road fixtures at Cal State Fullerton (2-0) and UC Riverside (3-1) last week. The Hornets host UC Irvine on Thursday, Oct. 8 at 4 p.m. before entertaining the Matadors Sunday afternoon.Â
On offense, freshman Brad Bumgarner leads the team with three goals and six points on the season. Junior Bert Corona also has six points by way of two goals and two assists while sophomore Cylus Sandoval has two goals on the season. The Hornets have taken 104 shots on the year, an average of just over 10 per contest.Â
On defense, James Del Curto has played the majority of minutes in goal for Sacramento State. He sports a 1.45 goals-against-average, 20 saves, a .690 save percentage and one shutout on the season. The Hornets have committed 107 fouls on the season, the second-fewest in the Big West, and have received 19 yellow cards.Â
Michael Linenberger is in his 27th season as the head coach of the Hornets. CSUN leads the all-time series with Sacramento State, 11-6, although the Hornets captured a 1-0 victory at Matador Soccer Field in 2014.
Matador Team Notes
CSUN checks in at 50 in the NCAA RPI that was released on Oct. 5 ... the Matadors recorded the 400th win in program history with their 2-0 triumph at Santa Clara on Sept. 25 ... CSUN is 2-1 this season when scoring the first goal of the match and in day matches ... among all Division I goalkeepers, Adam Hobbs ranks 56th in save percentage (.774) and 28th in total saves (41) ... as a team, CSUN ranks 70th in Division I in shutout percentage (0.30), 53rd in save percentage (.775) and 59th with 14 total assists.Â
