Matadors Complete Homestand Sunday Against UC Riverside

Sunday, October 14

Northridge, Calif.

5:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

UC Riverside

Photo by: Shae Hammond

Matadors Complete Homestand Sunday Against UC Riverside

10/11/2018 9:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer

FULL GAME NOTES

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Women's Soccer (5-5-1, 1-2-0 BWC) completes its three-match homestand this Sunday as the Matadors take on UC Riverside at 5 p.m. The match will be streamed live on the CSUN Sports Network presented by Dignity Health. All live video and stats links can be found on the women's soccer schedule page at GoMatadors.com.

The Matadors snapped a two-game skid with a 2-1 victory over Cal State Fullerton last Sunday. The win gave the Matadors their first conference victory and first triumph at Matador Soccer Field this season. The Titans jumped in front early with a goal from Kristin Swales in the 12th minute, and would lead for most of the match until a late Matador rally. Marissa Favela netted the tying goal in the 78th minute off an assist from Bethany Fitzsimmons. Just 1:39 later, the combination of Alexis White and Amy Aquino would give the Matadors a 2-1 lead in the 80th minute. Aquino hit the go-ahead goal, her second of the season, which proved to be the game winner.

After Sunday's match, the Matadors will have reached the half-way mark in their Big West Conference schedule. At the moment, UC Irvine is in first place in the conference standings with a 3-0-0 record and nine points. UC Santa Barbara (2-1-0) and Hawai'i (2-2-0) have six points apiece while UC Riverside (1-1-1), Long Beach State (1-0-1) and Cal Poly (1-2-1) all have four points. CSUN and UC Davis (1-2-0) are tied for seventh place with three points and Cal State Fullerton (0-2-1) sits in ninth place with one point. The top four teams in the conference standings at the end of the season will advance to the Big West Tournament on Nov. 1.

Favela's game-tying goal on Sunday was her 11th career goal with the Matadors, which puts her into a 10th-place tie with Melissa Cleal (1999-02) on CSUN's all-time scoring list. Her next goal would move her into an eighth-place tie with Susie Mischenko (2004-07) and Heidi Farran (2007-11). On the season, Favela has a team-best four goals, eight points, 25 shots and 12 shots on goal.

White became the 11th different Matador to record a point this season last Sunday. Seven Matadors have at least one goal while six have recorded an assist. After Favela, Fitzsimmons is second on the team in goals (3) and points (7). In front of the net, Amanda Delgado has a 0.96 goals-against-average to go with 30 saves.

The Matadors lead the all-time series with UC Riverside, 11-7, and have won the last three meetings. CSUN posted a pair of victories last season over the Highlanders including a 3-0 win in the Big West Tournament semifinals at Matador Soccer Field. Cynthia Sanchez recorded a brace in the tournament match while Lindsay Kutscher scored as well. The Matadors also earned a 1-0 victory at UC Riverside last season behind a late goal from Bret Guarino. CSUN has won seven of nine all-time meetings at home in the series.

Sunday's match ends a stretch where the Matadors have played just four games in 28 days. However, things will change over the last two weeks of the regular season as CSUN will play at UC Irvine on Thursday, Oct. 18 followed by a Sunday home match against UC Davis (Oct. 21). A week later, the Matadors wrap up the regular season with a pair of road matches at UC Santa Barbara (Oct. 25) and Long Beach State (Oct. 28).

A Closer Look at UC Riverside
After going unbeaten in 12-straight matches to start the season, the Highlanders suffered their first loss on Sunday to UC Santa Barbara (1-0) to fall to 10-1-2. UCR is 1-1-1 in Big West play this season and will host UC Irvine on Thursday before facing the Matadors. As a team, the Highlanders lead the Big West with 10 shutouts and a 0.24 GAA.

Junior goalkeeper Annie Bailey has a conference-best 0.30 GAA and seven shutouts to go with 43 saves. On the offensive front, senior Madeline Feist is tied for third in the conference in goals (7) and fourth in points (17) while she has three assists. Feist also has a conference-best five game-winning goals. Fellow senior Quinley Quezada has hit the net three times for UCR and dished out two assists.