McCaskill Ties Career Shutout Record, CSUN Climbs into First Place in the Big West with 1-0 Win

NORTHRIDGE, CA---

CSUN Women's Soccer (8-4-5, 4-1-1 BWC) moved into first place in the Big West Conference standings with a 1-0 win over UC Irvine (9-5-4, 4-2-1 BWC) on Thursday evening at Matador Soccer Field. The Matadors and Anteaters are tied atop the conference with 13 points apiece with a week to play in the regular season. Senior goalkeeper Jovani McCaskill racked up four saves en route to earning her 27th career shutout, tying a CSUN school record. Freshman midfielder Sydney Gilbert scored her first career goal in the 33rd minute off a pass from Destinney Duron.

"We had a little bit of a rough stretch in September on the road, lost a little belief but [we] are believing now and giving it everything we got," said head coach Keith West. "To do something special is not easy; we got to keep grinding and going for it.

"The numbers speak for themselves. We had 15 shutouts last year and had an amazing group but JoJo [McCaskill] was a huge part of what we did," added West. "This year she's getting shutouts again. She does what every 'keeper is supposed to do and that's keep the ball out of the net."

With her 27th shutout, McCaskill has matched assistant coach Cynthia Rosas' (2009-12) all-time CSUN career shutout record. Last season, McCaskill set a new single season shutout record with 14 individual clean sheets.

In the match, UC Irvine finished with a narrow 13-12 edge in shots including an advantage in the shots on goal department (5-4). The Anteaters also led 8-5 in corner kicks. However, the Matadors would put in the go-ahead goal in the first half and hold on down the stretch for their fourth-straight victory.

The teams went back-and-forth in the first half as CSUN outshot UCI 6-5. Amy Aquino took the first shot of the match from above the box in the 11th minute followed by another shot from the freshman that was blocked minutes later.

Later in the half, UCI's Sydney Carr forced McCaskill to make a save in the 31st minute on a shot that came from the center box. McCaskill dove to her right to get a hand on the ball to keep the score 0-0.

Moments later, the Matadors earned the ball back and made a push up the field. Off a throw in, Duron tossed the ball deep into a crowd inside the box. Gilbert was able to take conrol of the ball and fire a shot past goalkeeper Maddie Newsom into the net to give CSUN a 1-0 lead.

CSUN nearly added to its lead in the 40th minute as Bret Guarino deposited a shot to the near right post but Newsom made a diving stop to her left.

McCaskill made three of her four saves in the second half beginning with a stop in the 48th minute off a shot from Kiana Palacios. Minutes later, McCaskill cleanly saved a Carr header.

UC Irvine nearly squared the match in the 71st minute as Noel Baham executed a header that appeared to be out of the reach of McCaskill but the CSUN defense cleared the ball out of play. At the 75:39 mark, Maritza Acuna took another shot from inside the box, however McCaskill would be there again to make another save.

Despite being outshot 8-6 in the second half, the Matadors earned quality looks at the net throughout the period. In a close call, Christina Nixon moved the ball up midfield and sent the ball ahead to a streaking Cynthia Sanchez. With room, Sanchez looked to send a shot inside the right post but Newsome left her feet to corral the ball.

In their last look of the night, the Anteaters took a corner kick in the 88th minute leading to a Andrea Mensen shot at the left post. Mensen took the short shot but missed just wide left. UCI earned another corner kick a minute later but did not record a shot as the Matadors would regain possession and hold on for the 1-0 victory.

With two matches to play, the Matadors' magic number of points needed to clinch a berth into the Big West Conference Tournament is four. CSUN would win the Big West Conference regular season championship with two more wins. The Matadors head to third-place UC Davis (3-1-1, 10 points) on Sunday with kick off slated for 1 p.m.

McCaskill Ties Career Shutout Record, CSUN Climbs into First Place in the Big West with 1-0 Win

Next Event

Team Stats

Sydney Gilbert

Destinney Duron

Amy Aquino

Cynthia Sanchez

Players Mentioned

Amy Aquino

Destinney Duron

Sydney Gilbert

Bret Guarino

Jovani McCaskill

Christina Nixon

Cynthia Sanchez