CSUN Men's Soccer Travels to Riverside & Davis

Men's Soccer Notebook

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---The CSUN Men's Soccer team hits the road for a pair of matches this week as the Matadors travel to UC Riverside and UC Davis.

CSUN plays UC Riverside Wednesday at 7 p.m. No stream is planned, so head to GoMatadors.com for a link to the Live Stats for coverage.

The Highlanders are tied for fourth in the Big West (6) with UC Davis and CSU Bakersfield. UCR is 7-5 overall. UCR is one of the top-scoring teams in the Big West as the team is in the top three in the conference in points, goals, and assists. Joninck Pineda and Oscar Pente are the team leaders in goals as both have scored four times this season. The duo is tied for seventh in the conference in the category.

Roberto Garcia-Vargas and Hermano Padilla are tied for seventh in the conference in assists (3). Pente and teammate Issa Badawiya are tied for eighth in the league in points with eight. UCR goalie Carlos Gonzalez is tied with second in the conference in shutouts (3) with Dennis Chan of UC Davis. Gonzalez is sixth in goals-against average (1.288), seventh in saves (32), and eighth in saves per game (2.67).

This is the 41st time that the Matadors and the Highlanders are playing men's soccer with CSUN leading the all-time series 26-6-8. The teams played to a 1-1 tie in the last meeting between the clubs on Oct. 23, 2019.

The Matadors travel to UC Davis Sunday afternoon for a 1 p.m. start. Streaming coverage will be provided by Aggies All-Access. All links will be available on GoMatadors.com.

UC Davis is 6-7 overall, 2-2 in Big West. The top two in the Big West in shots are members of the Aggies in league-leader Maximillian Arfsten (40) and Robert Mejia (38). Arfsten is tied for the conference lead in goals (7) with UC Santa Barbara's Finn Ballard McBride. He is second in the Big West in points (17).

Grant Fidler is tied for fourth in the conference in assists (4) with teammate Max Glasser. He is sixth in the conference in points (12). Derrick Chan has started 12-of-the-13 UCD matches in goal. He is 6-6, playing 983 minutes. Chan is tied for second in the Big West in shutouts (3) with UCR's Gonzalez. He is fourth in the conference in saves (39), fifth in goals-against average (1.281), and sixth in saves per game (3.25).

This is the 25th time that the Matadors and the Aggies are playing men's soccer with UC Davis leading the all-time series 11-8-3. The Aggies defeated CSUN 3-1 Oct. 12, 2019, in the last meeting between the teams.

CSUN rallied twice in the second half from a one-goal deficit as the Matadors played Sacramento State to a 2-2 tie in Big West Conference Men's Soccer action last Wednesday. Trailing 1-0, redshirt freshman Jamar Ricketts tied the score in the 58th. Jordan Isibor passed the ball to Marvin Arias who sent a pass into the box, finding Ricketts in front to make it 1-1.
Sacramento State took the lead again at 62:54. Christo Cervantes took advantage of a CSUN turnover and passed the ball to Genaro Alfaro who was stationed inside the Matadors' goalkeeper's box and scored his second goal of the year. 31 seconds later, Isibor was sent on a run by Giovanni Aguilar and his attempt from five yards tied the match once again.

The Matadors improved to 2-10-1, 1-2 in Big West play last Saturday when CSUN defeated UC San Diego 1-0. Thomas Mascaro would score what proved to be the game-winning goal with 27 seconds remaining in the first half. Maximillian Yanakaev sent a pass to Esteban Camacho who sent a cross to Mascaro. Mascaro settled the ball, and he took a shot and scored.

David Preys earned his second shutout of the season and the sixth of his career. He made four saves in the match. Preys recorded a season-high eight saves earlier in the week against Sacramento State.

Preys currently sits fifth in the Big West in shutouts (2), sixth in saves (34), seventh in saves per game (3.09), and ninth in goals-against average (1.83). Jamar Ricketts is now sixth in the Big West in shots per game (0.93) and eighth in shots (24).

~#UniteTheValley~

CSUN Men's Soccer Travels to Riverside & Davis

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Players Mentioned

Giovanni Aguilar

Marvin Arias

Esteban Camacho

Jordan Isibor

Thomas Mascaro

David Preys

Jamar Ricketts

Maximillian Yanakaev