Matadors Continue Homestand Against Houston, Utah Valley

Thursday, August 24

Northridge, Calif.

7:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

Houston

Photo by: Paul Trafecanty

Matadors Continue Homestand Against Houston, Utah Valley

8/23/2017 11:15:00 AM | Women's Soccer

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NORTHRIDGE, CA---

CSUN Women's Soccer (0-0-2) continues a four-match homestand with a pair of matches at Matador Soccer Field this week. The Matadors host Houston on Thursday evening at 7 p.m. and conclude the weekend facing Utah Valley on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. The CSUN Sports Network via Big West.TV will provide a live video broadcast of Thursday's match. Sunday's meeting with the Wolverines will be the first of a CSUN soccer doubleheader as the men's soccer team hosts Saint Mary's at 5 p.m.

The Matadors posted a pair of 1-1 draws against Long Beach State and Pacific to start the 2017 campaign last weekend. With the two outcomes, the Matadors have began the season with two draws for the first time in 17 years.

Opening the season at Long Beach State in a non-conference match, CSUN took a 1-0 lead after the tandem of Avery DeWitt and Payton Jo Armijo found Kirsten Von Meter for a goal in the 52nd minute. Later in the half, the 49ers would take advantage of a costly CSUN foul to even the game via a penalty kick. With the game tied, the teams fought to stalemate for the rest of the way despite a late header from Marissa Favela that was saved.

On Sunday, Favela got the Matadors' started quickly against Pacific with a goal in the third minute off a corner kick from Sylvia Trinh. Ahead 1-0, CSUN led for nearly the entire afternoon until Pacific drew even off a long shot in the 85th minute. The Matadors earned six shots in the two overtime periods including a shot from Cynthia Sanchez that banged off the crossbar, but the game would end in a draw.

Favela's goal was the first of her Matador career while Trinh notched her eighth career assist. For Von Meter, her strike was the second of her career and first since 2015. Favela also led the team with 10 shots and senior goalkeeper Jovani McCaskill racked up six saves in the two games. On the backline, Lindsay Kutscher, Amanda Martin and Christina Nixon played every minute in the two games as the CSUN defense allowed just one goal in the run of play.

Through two matches, Sanchez is second on the team with seven shots with three on goal while Kutscher has three shots with one on goal. As a team, the Matadors have 28 shots on the year with 12 on frame.

McCaskill can move into third place in CSUN history in the all-time minutes list this weekend. She currently sits in fifth place with 3,766 minutes and can surpass April Cline (2005-06) for fourth place with 114 more minutes in net. With 167 saves in her career, McCaskill is also 22 saves away from tying Jen Jasper (2002-03) for third place on the all-time Matador save list.

CSUN holds a 1-0 record against Houston and Utah Valley all time, winning overtime matches in 2013 and 2004 respectively. Four seasons ago, the Matadors defeated the Cougars 2-1 in dramatic fashion as former Matador Breanna McCallum scored a goal with one second left to send the match into extra time where Brittanie Sakajian eventually recorded the winning goal. CSUN earned a victory at Utah Valley in the teams' only meeting behind Rebecca Hidalgo who broke a 1-1 tie in the 105th minute.

A Closer Look at Houston
The Cougars are 2-0 on the season after posting victories over Texas Southern (3-0) and Northern Arizona (4-1) at home last week. A season ago, Houston finished 6-7-3 and 1-6-2 in the American Athletic Conference. Six Cougars have hit the net in the early going this season, led by freshman Jazmin Grant who had two goals and an assist last week en route to earning AAC Rookie of the Week honors. In goal, junior Rachel Estopare has not allowed a goal in 135 minutes on the year. Diego Bocanegra is in his first season as head coach of Houston.

A Closer Look at Utah Valley
The Wolverines split their first two matches last week at the Ohana Hotels by Outrigger Shootout in Hawai'i. Utah Valley dropped its opener to Hawai'i in overtime (2-1) but ended the weekend with a 2-1 win over Houston Baptist. A season ago, Utah Valley finished 10-8-2 and 3-3-1 in the Western Athletic Conference. Sophomore midfielder Breanna DeWaal collected two goals in Hawai'i, including scores in each contest as she totaled 12 shots. In net, sophomore Brooklyn Nielsen has amassed a 1.04 GAA in over 172 minutes for the Wolverines. Before heading to CSUN, Utah Valley visits UNLV on Friday.