Matadors Host Cal State Fullerton in Big West Championship Match

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NORTHRIDGE, CA---CSUN Women's Soccer will take the field on Sunday afternoon with an opportunity to punch its ticket to the NCAA Tournament as the Matadors host Cal State Fullerton in the Big West Tournament Championship at 1 p.m. The match will be televised live on Fox Sports West and a spanish audio only broadcast will be aired on the CSUN Sports Network presented by Dignity Health with Jose Avalos and Eduard Cauich on the call.

The Matadors are one win away from winning their second ever Big West Tournament title after defeating UC Riverside 3-0 on Thursday evening in a semifinal match. After a scoreless first half, CSUN exploded with three second-half goals with two coming off the foot of Cynthia Sanchez. Lindsay Kutscher added an insurance goal while Jovani McCaskill and the Matador defense held the Highlanders to two shots in the final 45 minutes.

Sanchez enjoyed a record-breaking night as her two scores gave her 23 career goals, the most ever recorded in CSUN history. Her brace against the Highlanders was the fourth of her career while her game-winning strike was her 13th with the Matadors. Sanchez also moved into sole possession of first place on the CSUN career points list with 52.

Coming into the tournament final, All-Big West Second Team honorees Marissa Favela and Sanchez are tied for the team lead with six goals this season. Favela has a team-best 14 points while Sanchez is a close second with 13. With a helper against the Highlanders, Destinney Duron has moved into a tie with Sylvia Trinh for the team lead in assists (4).

Tenth in the nation in minutes played in goal (1,868), McCaskill has an 0.96 goals-against-average to go along with a .759 save percentage and eight shutouts. Earlier this week, McCaskill repeated as the Big West Goalkeeper of the Year as she shared the honor with the Cal State Fullerton's Morgan Bertsch.

The Matadors extended their unbeaten streak to eight matches with their win over the Highlanders. Their unbeaten streak is one short of the team record set by the 2005 and 2012 teams.

CSUN and Cal State Fullerton have faced off 23 times all time with the Titans holding a 15-7-1 edge in the series. Earlier this season, Cal State Fullerton handed CSUN its only conference defeat (3-0) in a match that opened up conference play. The teams have met twice in the history of the Big West Tournament with each team pulling off a 1-0 victory. In 2012, CSUN knocked off Fullerton in overtime to win the tournament title and advance to the school's first ever NCAA Tournament. The Titans returned the favor in 2014 in a tournament semifinal match. Seven of the last nine meetings between the two teams have finished with a 1-0 decision.

A Closer Look at Cal State Fullerton
The Titans (12-5-3) defeated UC Irvine in the Big West Tournament semifinals on Thursday to advance to the championship match with CSUN. Seniors Kaycee Hoover and Maribell Morales each tallied goals while fellow senior Morgan Bertsch made a save in front of the net. The Titans have advanced to the Big West Tournament for six-straight seasons and to the championship match for the fifth time over that span. Sophomore Atlanta Primus and senior Sarah Fajnor have six goals apiece to lead the team with Primus posting a team-best seven assists and 19 points. Co-Big West Goalkeeper of the Year Bertsch has amassed an 0.73 GAA, .776 save percentage and seven shutouts this season.

Matadors Host Cal State Fullerton in Big West Championship Match

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Players Mentioned

Destinney Duron

Marissa Favela

Lindsay Kutscher

Jovani McCaskill

Cynthia Sanchez

Sylvia Trinh