CSUN Travels to UC Riverside Wed.; Hosts No. 18/20 UCSB Sat.

Men's Soccer Notebook

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.—CSUN begins the final push towards the men's soccer postseason as the Matadors take to the pitch for two matches. Entering this week's play, CSUN is tied for sixth with Cal State Fullerton and UC Riverside in the Big West with three points. The top six teams advance to the Big West Tournament which gets underway Nov. 6.

CSUN travels to UC Riverside Wednesday night for a 7 p.m. matchup. The link to the live stats will be available on GoMatadors.com. The Highlanders are 6-7-2 overall, 1-3 in Big West play. UC Riverside's Roberto Garcia-Vargas and Hugo Magano, Jr. both have three goals while Garcia-Vargas leads the team in points with eight.

UCR goalie Edwyn Gutierrez is third in the league in goals-against average (1.03), saves (48), and shutouts (4). His total of 1309:47 minutes played is the 14th best in Division I this season. This is the 40th time that CSUN and UC Riverside are playing men's soccer with the Matadors leading the all-time series 25-7-7.

The final home match of 2019 is Saturday night when the Matadors host No. 12/17 UC Santa Barbara at 7 p.m. The first 100 fans who come through the gate on senior day will receive a free t-shirt.
The match will be streamed on BigWest.tv via the CSUN Sports Network presented by Dignity Health.

The Gauchos are a conference-best 10-3-2 overall but lost for the first-time last Saturday to UC Irvine to fall to 3-1 in Big West play. UCSB is ranked 18th in the TopDrawerSoccer.com Top 25, 18th in the College Soccer News Top 30, and 20th in the United Soccer Coaches Association Top 25.

Finn Ballard McBride has been named Big West Freshman of the Week four times this season as well as earning Big West Offensive Player of the Week on one other occasion. Ballard McBride is tied with Johnny Rodriguez for second in the conference in goals scored with eight. He is tied for fourth with teammate Thibault Candia in the league in points with 18. UCSB goalie Ben Roach leads the conference in wins with 10. He is fourth in the Big West goals-against average (1.08) and fifth in saves (42). His 1409:06 minutes between the pipes are the second-most in Division I this season. This is the 46th time that CSUN and UC Santa Barbara are playing men's soccer with the Gauchos leading the all-time series 24-16-5.

The Matadors are 6-7-1 overall. CSUN is coming off a pair of losses last week. The Matadors lost 2-1 in overtime to Sacramento State last Wednesday before dropping a 2-0 decision to Cal Poly on Sunday.
CSUN's Daniel Trejo appears this week's Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd. Trejo is featured after recording 19 points this season. He has scored seven goals and recorded five assists.

~#UniteTheValley~

CSUN Travels to UC Riverside Wed.; Hosts No. 18/20 UCSB Sat.

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Players Mentioned

Johnny Rodriguez

Daniel Trejo