Rodriguez Scores A Pair To Lead CSUN Past Seattle

SEATTLE—Johnny Rodriguez scored twice including the game winner 1:33 into overtime as No. 25 CSUN defeated Seattle U 2-1 in men's soccer action Sunday afternoon.

CSUN took the lead in the 13th minute. A Daniel Trejo cross from the right side was deflected in by Johnny Rodriguez for his third goal of the year. The Redhawks put their first shot on goal in the 16th minute when Gabriel Ruiz sent the ball towards the CSUN net from the left side. Henrik Regitnig made the save.

Hamish Ritchie for Seattle U and Jordan Kinoshi for CSUN traded attempts in the final 20 minutes of the first half. The Redhawks went a man down in the 42nd minute when Connor Noblat was issued his second yellow of the match for a tackle of Ehi Isibor. CSUN would earn a pair of corner kicks in the final portion of the opening frame, but the score would remain 1-0 heading into the break.

Despite playing with a disadvantage, the Redhawks pressured early in the second half. The pressure resulted in their first two corner kicks which came in the 47th and 49th minutes respectively. A third Seattle U corner occurred in the 53rd. The Matadors were able to successfully defend each time.

CSUN mounted an offensive charge when Michael Flores' shot was saved by Josh Adachi at 55:49. The rebound came out to Trejo who had his attempt go high. On the ensuing Seattle U possession, the Redhawks took advantage of a Matador foul. Using the free kick to go on the offense, Noe Meza's header was saved by Regitnig. Trejo again nearly doubled the CSUN score in the 59th minute, but his shot went off the SU post and was pushed away by Adachi.

A Redhawks' offensive rush in the 61st minute saw Julian Avila-Good take a shot that was blocked by the CSUN defense. The rebound came out to Sergio Rivas who went wide with his effort. Wolfgang Prentice took the third Matadors' corner kick with just over 25 to play, but Seattle U defended the set piece successfully.

The Redhawks drew a foul on CSUN in the 72nd which would give SU a free kick. Noe Meza's shot was headed to the lower left of the CSUN goal before Regitnig who was leaning right, was able to punch the ball away. SU would get a corner that saw Hal Uderwitz's header go wide.

After a Matadors' corner, Seattle U was awarded a corner at the 79:58 mark. Rivas sent the ball in which found Ritchie. He took a shot from inside the Matadors' box where Regitnig made the save. SU posted a pair of shots in the 83th that were blocked by the CSUN defense. Andrew Rizeq's try a minute later was also blocked. The Matadors continued to move forward. CSUN drew a foul which resulted in a free kick by Giovanni Aguilar that was off line.

The Redhawks tied the match with 4:01 to play. Ruiz sent a ball towards the goal that was bounded back out towards Rivas. Rivas took a dribble and scored to the low left of Regitnig. An Aguilar attempt was wide with 1:55 to go. With 41 seconds remaining, Rodriguez's blast was saved by Adachi, sending the match to overtime.
On the first offensive attack of overtime, CSUN pushed the ball towards the SU net. Trejo passed the ball into the box where Rodriguez finished from straight on for the winner.

"Seattle and Washington are two great teams," said CSUN head coach Terry Davila. "We have to give every effort and every piece of energy to get a result!"

Despite playing a man down for nearly 50 minutes, Seattle U outshot CSUN 16-11, however shots on goal were tied at five. SU recorded eight corner kicks, compared to four for the Matadors.

CSUN (4-2) takes on Cornell (3-0) for the first time on Friday night. Catch the 7 p.m. start on the CSUN Sports Network presented by Dignity Health.

~www.GoMatadors.com~

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Team Stats

Johnny Rodriguez

Daniel Trejo

Christian Wimmer

Giovanni Aguilar

Players Mentioned

Giovanni Aguilar

Michael Flores

Ehi Isibor

Jordan Kinoshi

Wolfgang Prentice

Henrik Regitnig

Andrew Rizeq

Johnny Rodriguez

Daniel Trejo