CSUN and No. 24 Long Beach State Fight to 1-1 Draw to Open Season

Friday, August 18

Long Beach, Calif.

7:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

0-0-1

#24 Long Beach State

0-0-1

OT 3

OT 4

CSUN

Long Beach State

Photo by: Paul Trafecanty

CSUN and No. 24 Long Beach State Fight to 1-1 Draw to Open Season

8/18/2017 11:01:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

LONG BEACH, CA---

CSUN Women's Soccer battled No. 24 Long Beach State to a 1-1 draw in a non-conference match to open the 2017 season on Friday evening at George Allen Field. Kirsten Von Meter netted her only shot of the night in the second half while Marissa Favela led the way with five shots with four on goal. Senior goalkeeper Jovani McCaskill racked up four saves in net, allowing only a penalty kick to hit the net.

While the match will not go into the books as a conference match, the two Big West Conference rivals went back and forth in thrilling season-opening match. Long Beach State finished with a 13-9 edge in shots and held a narrow advantage in corner kicks, 4-2. A total of 32 fouls were called in the match with CSUN whistled for 17 compared to LBSU's 15. Six yellow cards were issued to CSUN in the match while Long Beach State's Alyssa Alvarez received a card in the first half.

In a contest that took the form of a mid-season conference match, the 49ers came out quickly, posting a pair of early shots that McCaskill stopped at the net. Favela recorded the Matadors' first shot of the night off a run but goalkeeper Imani McDonald made a save to keep the game scoreless in the early going.

After the early barrage, the Matadors controlled the pace for most of the first half. Pressing the 49er defense, Cynthia Sanchez nearly gave the Matadors the lead with a shot that came within inches of the net in the 32nd minute. Making her way inside the Long Beach State box, Sanchez delivered a laser that sailed above the outstretched arms of McDonald and off the crossbar.

The score remained deadlocked at the break but the Matadors would quickly change that in the 52nd minute. With the ball near midfield, Avery DeWitt forced a turnover and found teammate Payton Jo Armijo up the field. Armijo made a quick pass to a streaking Von Meter who sent in a shot from inside 18 yards to put CSUN ahead 1-0.

Playing with the lead, the Matadors withstood several scoring attacks from the 49ers including a shot from Erica Stephan that McCaskill snared. Moments later, in the 73rd minute, Long Beach State drew even after a costly CSUN foul inside its own box. Ashley Gonzales took the penalty kick and delivered the equalizer to square the match at 1-1.

In the final minutes of regulation, each team had looks at the net but neither side could hit the go-ahead score. Katie Pingel put a shot on frame but McCaskill cleaned up the play while Favela sent a shot high of the net in the 85th minute.

After 90 minutes of action, with the match still squared, the Matadors looked for the golden goal in extra time. Bret Guarino and Favela each registered shots in the first overtime and the Matadors earned a pair of corner kick opportunities in the 109th minute. With seconds remaining, Sylvia Trinh sent in a corner kick that found Favela in a crowd near the net but the junior's header was batted away as time expired.

Making her official Matador debut, freshman Sydney Gilbert played 82 minutes in the midfield while fellow freshmen Armijo and DeWitt earned their first career points in their respective debuts. The Matadors' backline of Lindsay Kutscher, Christina Nixon, Destinney Duron and Amanda Martin played every single minute on Friday.

CSUN returns home for its home opener against Pacific on Sunday afternoon. Kick off from Matador Soccer Field is set for 1 p.m.