Matadors Open Up Big West Play at UC Davis

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NORTHRIDGE, CA---

CSUN Women's Soccer (7-5) opens up Big West Conference play on Sunday with a road test at UC Davis (7-3-1) at 1 p.m. from Aggie Soccer Field. The Matadors head into the conference season with seven wins, their most non-conference victories since 2010. CSUN also has already matched its entire win total from 2014. Live stats will be available for the matchup on Sunday.

The Matadors dropped weekend matches to San Diego, 4-1, on Friday and to nationally-ranked Texas Tech, 2-1, in double overtime on Sunday.

After falling into a 4-0 hole at San Diego, the Matadors cracked the scoreboard in the second half when Sylvia Trinh assisted Camille Watson on a score but the Toreros would hang on for a 4-1 win.

Two days later, the Matadors and Red Raiders battled in a seesaw affair at Matador Soccer Field. Lindsay Kutscher found the net to give CSUN the lead in the 67^th minute, scoring off her own rebound that initially banged off the post. After a Texas Tech goal tied the match minutes later, the teams would go scoreless for the remainder of the second half, forcing the game into overtime. Both teams traded chances at the net in the overtime period but neither team could hit the deciding goal in the 10-minute session. In the second overtime, the Red Raiders finally broke through with the game-winner in the fourth minute to pull out a 2-1 victory.

CSUN begins conference play boasting 11 different Matadors with goals on the season. The Matadors' 24 goals are three times as many as the total of last season's team against non-conference opponents. Two-time Big West Conference Player of the Week Cynthia Sanchez leads the team in goals (8), points (18), shots (28) and shots on goal (18). The sophomore also has recorded four game-winners on the season.

Junior Kourtney Kutscher is second on the team with three goals while senior Kendall Moskal, sophomore Kiley Norkus, freshman Lindsay Kutscher and sophomore Ariana Tran all have a pair. Sophomore Destinney Duron leads the team with four assists while the junior Trinh is second with three on the season.

Senior Cynthia Tafoya has spent the most minutes in net with over 827 and she has posted 24 saves along with two shutouts.

Last season, CSUN defeated UC Davis, 4-0, at Matador Soccer Field last October. Lyndsey Preston, Tabatha Dickson, Sanchez and Tran all had goals in the victory. CSUN holds an 8-4 all-time record against the Aggies and has won six of the last seven meetings. UC Davis pulled off a 1-0 double overtime victory in the teams' last match at Aggie Soccer Field in October 2013.

A Closer Look at UC Davis
The Aggies (7-3-1) open up conference play against Cal Poly on Thursday night at home. UC Davis earned a 1-0 double overtime win at home over Saint Mary's last Sunday and has won two-straight overall. Last season, UC Davis went 5-11-3 and 2-4-2 in Big West play.

Junior forward Rachel Smith leads the Aggies in goals with five and in points with 10. Smith also has taken the most shots on the team with 39 and she has posted 18 shots on goal. Seniors Ana Marija Sola and Sienna Drizin and freshman Crystal Crump all have a pair of goals for UC Davis.

Alexis Smith has played every minute in front of the net this season and has only allowed six goals for a 0.52 goals-against-average. Smith also has registered 31 saves and recorded seven shutouts. The freshman needs one more shutout to set a new single season program record.

Matadors Open Up Big West Play at UC Davis

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Players Mentioned

Tabatha Dickson

Destinney Duron

Kourtney Kutscher

Lindsay Kutscher

Kendall Moskal

Kiley Norkus

Lyndsey Preston

Cynthia Sanchez

Cynthia Tafoya

Ariana Tran

Sylvia Trinh

Camille Watson