Matadors Host Utah Valley & San Francisco This Weekend

Men's Soccer Notebook

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.-- CSUN plays at home for the first time this week as the Matadors play a pair of matches.

The Matadors welcome Utah Valley to Northridge on Friday night. Kick is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and is part of a doubleheader with the CSUN women's program.

The Wolverines defeated Cal Poly 1-0 in the season opener last weekend. A six-year old program, Utah Valley won its sixth consecutive season opener against the Mustangs. Blake Frischknecht scored the game winning goal. Aaron Caprio was named WAC Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts against Cal Poly. The match marked a return for Caprio after suffering a season-ending injury in the 2018 season opener.

This is the fourth year in a row that the Matadors and the Wolverines are playing men's soccer. CSUN has won the last two matches in the series and leads 2-1.

Play continues Sunday when the Matadors host San Francisco at 6 p.m. The Dons went 0-2 on the opening weekend of action. USF dropped a 5-0 decision to Seattle U in the season opener before losing 4-0 to Washington on Sunday.

San Francisco was outshot 48-6 during the first two matches. Ruben Stuilver made 17 saves during opening weekend. This is the 13th time that CSUN and USF are playing. The Dons took a 10-2 series lead when San Francisco defeated CSUN 3-2 last season in San Francisco.

The UVU match is to be streamed on BigWest.tv via the CSUN Sports Network presented by Dignity Health. All links will be available on GoMatadors.com.

CSUN swept the first set of Big West Conference men's soccer awards Sept. 2. Daniel Trejo was selected Offensive Player of the Week. Trejo earned his third career Big West career award as he helped CSUN to a pair of wins at the Bert & Iris Wolstein Classic in Columbus, Ohio last weekend.

Trejo scored two goals and added two assists to lead the Matadors to the tourney title with wins over host Ohio State (4-3) and Dayton (3-1). He was named to the All-Tournament Team. The forward had an assist in the comeback victory over the Buckeyes.

The Mendota Calif. native produced two goals and an assist versus the Flyers, including the game-winner. He also tied the school's Division I record for most shots in a match with 10, sharing the mark with current CSUN women's soccer head coach Keith West (vs. Marshall, 9/29/95) and Danny Daniels (vs. Grand Canyon, 11/9/91).

His efforts rewarded him with TopDrawerSoccer.com National Player of the Week honors as well as a spot on the College Soccer News Team of the Week.

Giovanni Aguilar was named Defensive Player of the Week. This is the first time the junior from Olivehurst, Calif. has been named Defensive Player of the Week. Aguilar posted an assist in each win against Ohio State and Dayton. His assist against the Buckeyes gave the Matadors a 3-2 lead. He had the game-winning assist against Dayton as Trejo converted his shot at the 72:16 mark.

Samuel Salter earned Freshman of the Week honors. In his collegiate debut, Salter, a Montreal, Quebec native, buried the game-winning goal with under nine minutes to play against Ohio State. An All-Tournament Team selection, Salter got the Matadors on the board when he scored just over three minutes into the second half against the Buckeyes.

CSUN is off to a 2-0 start for the first time since the 2013 season when the Matadors began the year 7-0.

~#UniteTheValley~

Matadors Host Utah Valley & San Francisco This Weekend

Players Mentioned

Giovanni Aguilar

Samuel Salter

Daniel Trejo

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