Matadors Open Up Big West Play at Cal State Fullerton

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NORTHRIDGE, CA---

With an 11-game non-conference schedule in the books, CSUN Women's Soccer (4-3-4) opens up the Big West Conference season on Sunday afternoon at Cal State Fullerton (7-2-2) at 5 p.m. Live stats will be available for the opener and a live video broadcast will be streamed on Big West.TV.

The Matadors finished non-conference play last weekend, splitting a pair of games at Matador Soccer Field. CSUN defeated Grand Canyon 1-0 on Friday evening but fell to San Diego on Sunday by a final of 2-0. At 4-3-4, the Matadors enter conference play with a winning record for the third-straight season.

Senior Ariana Tran headed in her second goal of the season and second career game winner to defeat GCU. Tran utilized headers from Amy Aquino and Amanda Martin to clean up the play near the net in the 38th minute. Senior goalkeeper Jovani McCaskill collected three saves to notch her fourth shutout of the season.

Against the Toreros, the Matadors fell into an early hole by surrendering two goals in the first 19:10 of the match. Cynthia Sanchez led the way with three shots while Sylvia Trinh chipped in with two but CSUN would be unable to hit the back of the net on the afternoon.

CSUN enters the Big West season with a six-match conference winning streak as the Matadors won their final six conference matches, all by a 1-0 score, to close 2016. The team also has an active three-match conference road winning streak heading into Sunday. Both active streaks are program records.

Sixth in the Big West in goals and points, junior midfielder Marissa Favela leads the Matadors with four goals and 10 points to go along with two assists. Both with two goals this season, Sanchez has a team-best 32 shots and 16 shots on goal while Tran has an assist with 12 shots. Sylvia Trinh leads the team with three assists on the year.

McCaskill's fourth shutout of the season was also her 25th of her career, bringing her within two clean sheets of Cynthia Rosas' (Jacobo) all-time school record of 27 shutouts. She also moved into the 200-save club as she now stands at 201 for her career, which is fourth-most in CSUN history. On the season, McCaskill has an 0.99 goals-against-average and 40 saves.

The Titans own a 14-7-1 all-time record against the Matadors and have won three of the last four meetings, however CSUN handed Fullerton a 1-0 loss at Matador Soccer Field last season. The Matadors are 2-7-1 in Fullerton all time and seek their first win at Titan Stadium since 2011. Seven of the last eight meetings between the two teams have ended in a 1-0 score with CSUN pulling out three of those victories.

A Closer Look at Cal State Fullerton
Fullerton leads the Big West with a 7-2-2 overall record after registering wins over San Diego (3-0) and Grand Canyon (4-0) last weekend at Titan Stadium. With five goals, senior Sarah Fajnor shares the team-lead with senior Samantha Koemans and sophomore Atlanta Primus in scoring while Fajnor leads the Titans with four assists. In net, senior Morgan Bertsch has amassed an 0.79 GAA with 29 saves and three shutouts. Fajnor (offensive) and Bertsch (defensive) are the reigning Big West Conference Players of the Week. Last season, the Titans finished 8-10-1 and were eliminated on penalty kicks in the semifinals of the Big West Tournament.

Matadors Open Up Big West Play at Cal State Fullerton

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Players Mentioned

Amy Aquino

Marissa Favela

Amanda Martin

Jovani McCaskill

Cynthia Sanchez

Ariana Tran

Sylvia Trinh