CSUN Faces Santa Clara, San Jose State in Road Tests

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NORTHRIDGE, CA---

CSUN Women's Soccer (6-2) continues its road trip with a pair of weekend matches in Northern California beginning Friday. The Matadors face Santa Clara (4-3) on Friday at 5 p.m. and visit San Jose State (2-3-2) on Sunday at 1 p.m. Live stats will be available for both contests and Santa Clara's match will be steamed live on the West Coast Conference's network, TheW.tv.

The Matadors return to the field fresh off a weekend split at the Nike Portland Invitational. Last Friday, the Matadors dropped a hard fought contest to Washington, 3-1, but rebounded with a 1-0 win at Portland two days later. CSUN has enjoyed its best eight-game start to a season since 2005 and the second most wins through eight games in school history. Only the 2005 team registered more wins (7) though eight games than the 2015 team. The 6-2 mark is also the best start in the career of head coach Keith West, who took over coaching duties for CSUN in 2006.

Against Washington, the Matadors rallied back from a 1-0 deficit at the half to tie up the contest in the 59^th minute with Lyndsey Preston finding the back of the net off a pass from Cynthia Sanchez. Despite outshooting Washington in the second half, a Matadors' sixth-straight win would not be in the cards, as the Huskies would take control of the match with scores in the 66^th and 84^th minute to seal a 3-1 win.

Despite the setback, CSUN responded with a shutout victory less than 48 hours later against the host Portland. After playing the Pilots to a standstill for over 57 minutes, Ariana Tran lit up the scoreboard with a laser from the top of the box that struck the corner of the net. Tran's goal was her first of the season and put the Matadors in front, 1-0. CSUN's defense took over for the rest of the match, limiting the Pilots to one shot on goal for the final 30 minutes. Cynthia Tafoya saved four in the contest en route to earning her seventh career shutout and eleventh win in her collegiate career.

On the season, nine different Matadors have scored goals with Sanchez leading the way with six goals. Kourtney Kutscher has registered three goals, Kiley Norkus has a pair while Destinney Duron, Kendall Moskal, Lindsay Kutscher, Kirsten Von Meter, Preston and Tran all have one goal.

The duo of Jovani McCaskill and Tafoya has combined to earn four shutouts this season with each goalkeeper owning two apiece. Tafoya has started the last four contests and has recorded the most minutes in net this season with over 453. McCaskill has posted two shutouts in three games and owns a 0.33 goals-against-average while Tafoya is posting a 0.99 GAA.

A Closer Look at Santa Clara
The Broncos are 4-3 on the season after dropping a 1-0 decision at home to nationally-ranked Penn St., which ended a three-game winning streak. Santa Clara defeated Oklahoma, 2-0, last Friday in its home opener. Following its match with CSUN, Santa Clara will conclude a four-game homestand with a contest against Stanford on Sunday. All-time against the Matadors, the Broncos are 2-0 and defeated CSUN, 1-0, at Matador Soccer Field last September. In CSUN's only trip to Santa Clara, the Matadors fell 1-0 in overtime in 2012.

Reigning West Coast Conference Goalkeeper of the Year Andi Tostanoski has played every minute in net for Santa Clara this season. The senior has allowed five goals in seven games, posting a 0.70 GAA along with 41 saves.

Seven different Broncos have recorded goals on the year with freshman forward Grace Cutler leading the way with two goals. Junior forward Jenna Roering leads the team with a pair of assists to go along with a goal.

A Closer Look at San Jose State
The Spartans (2-3-2) dropped a 3-1 decision to San Francisco on Tuesday and went winless last weekend, posting a 2-1 setback to Cal Poly on Sunday and a 1-1 draw against Saint Mary's on Friday. The Matadors are the final tune-up before the start of Mountain West Conference play for the Spartans, which begins with a road contest at Wyoming on Friday, Sept. 25. San Jose State has only competed against the Matadors twice before and has not faced CSUN since the 1996 season. The Spartans are 2-0 against the Matadors all-time, winning 3-1 at CSUN in September 1996 and 3-1 at home in October 1995.

Senior forward Darlene Rodriguez and freshman forward Darriell Franklin are tied for the team lead in goals with three this season. Junior midfielder Maricruz Chapa has tallied two goals of her own this season to go along with an assist.

Senior Zoe Makrigiannis has recorded the most time in net for the Spartans with over 586 minutes, posting a 1.23 GAA and 11 saves.

CSUN Faces Santa Clara, San Jose State in Road Tests

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Players Mentioned

Destinney Duron

Kourtney Kutscher

Lindsay Kutscher

Jovani McCaskill

Kendall Moskal

Kiley Norkus

Lyndsey Preston

Cynthia Sanchez

Cynthia Tafoya

Ariana Tran

Kirsten Von Meter