Matadors Shut Out Grand Canyon, 1-0

NORTHRIDGE, CA---

CSUN Women's Soccer (4-2-4) stayed unbeaten at home by posting a 1-0 win over Grand Canyon (3-7-1) on Friday evening at Matador Soccer Field. Senior midfielder Ariana Tran headed in her second goal of the year and second career game winner to help lift CSUN to victory. In net, senior goalkeeper Jovani McCaskill collected three saves to post her fourth shutout of the year. With the win, the Matadors extended their unbeaten streak at home to five-straight games.

"Coming off a long road trip, I think we had a pretty gutsy performance tonight," said head coach Keith West. "[GCU] has a pretty good team over there but we were able to pull it out.

"We've been talking about ways to score goals and set pieces are [a part of that]," said West about the goal. "I'm proud of the team to come through in that way. Our forward hit it to our center back who hit it to our defensive midfielder. All in all, it was a pretty good team effort there."

The Matadors outshot GCU 16-10 in the contest and posted a 6-3 edge in shots on goal. CSUN also held a 3-1 advantage in corner kicks. Fifteen fouls were called in the match with GCU committing eight fouls to the Matadors' seven. The 'Lopes' Mary Joy Carrieres saw a yellow card on the night.

CSUN controlled the pace for most of the first half as Marissa Favela put the Matadors' first shot on frame in the eighth minute followed by shots from Cynthia Sanchez and Kirsten Von Meter that were blocked.

After McCaskill made a save on an attempt from Milla Benedetti, the Matadors went back on the attack. Tran would deposit a shot from the right wing that forced goalkeeper Blakely Fraasch to make a stop at the right near post. Sanchez also had another near goal off a long run into the box but Fraasch left her feet to knock away the attempt.

The Matadors finally broke through in the 38th minute via a corner kick. Favela desposited the ball near the top of the box to Amy Aquino. The Matador freshman headed the ball to defender Amanda Martin who then headed the ball to the left far post. Tran would be there to clean up the play with a third header to give CSUN the 1-0 edge.

In the second half, CSUN continued to press offensively and came close to doubling its lead. Lindsay Kutscher hit the post in the 47th minute and Sanchez again nearly hit the net, however Fraasch once again was there to make a diving stop to her right.

On the flip side, the Matadors' defense held the 'Lopes to four shots in the second half with only one attempt reaching McCaskill. The Matador 'keeper made her only save in the 62nd minute off a long shot from Jessica Wong from above the box.

Despite having only one shot on goal in the second half, GCU nearly squared the match in the 84th minute as Madison Cox delivered a header that smacked off the crossbar. The Matadors would clean up the play and hold GCU without a shot down the stretch.

The defensive quartet of Kutscher, Martin, Christina Nixon and Amber Edemann played the full 90 minutes on the backline. In the shot department, Von Meter and Sanchez shared the team lead with three while Trinh, Favela and Aquino all had two shots apiece.

With her shutout, McCaskill now has 25 career clean sheets and is just two away from tying assistant coach Cynthia Rosas' Matador shutout record of 27.

The Matadors conclude their non-conference schedule on Sunday afternoon against San Diego. Kick off is set for 2 p.m. The match will be streamed live on the CSUN Sports Network via Big West.TV.

Matadors Shut Out Grand Canyon, 1-0

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Team Stats

Ariana Tran

Amy Aquino

Amanda Martin

Kirsten Von Meter

Players Mentioned

Amy Aquino

Amber Edemann

Marissa Favela

Lindsay Kutscher

Amanda Martin

Jovani McCaskill

Christina Nixon

Cynthia Sanchez

Ariana Tran

Kirsten Von Meter