CSUN Hosts Cal State Fullerton; Travels to UC Irvine

Men's Soccer Notebook

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.—The CSUN Men's Soccer team returns to action this week with a pair of matches.

The Matadors host Cal State Fullerton Wednesday night Coverage on ESPN+ and GoMatadors.com/radio begins at 7 p.m.

Cal State Fullerton and CSUN both have four points in Big West play. The Titans are 3-8-1 overall. Sebastian Cruz (38) and Mario Gomez (36) are third and fourth in the conference in shots. Cruz is tied with UC Santa Barbara' Thaabit Baartman for third in the league in goals with six. He is third in the Big West in points (15).

The Titans have used a pair of goalies this season. Andrea Bonavia is 1-5-2 and is fifth in the conference in saves with 41. Bonavia is 10th in Division I in saves per game (5.12) and leads the BWC in the category. Jose Espino is 2-3-1 with 23 saves. Both have recorded a shutout in 2021.

This is the 50th time that the Matadors and the Titans are playing men's soccer with CSUN leading the all-time series 24-18-7. The Matadors defeated Cal State Fullerton on Oct. 7, 2019, in the last meeting between the teams.

CSUN will travel to UC Irvine Saturday night. Coverage on ESPN+ starts at 7 p.m. Under former CSUN player and assistant coach Yassi Raz, UC Irvine is tied for second in the Big West (3-1-2) with Cal Poly (11 points).

The Anteaters are 5-7-3 overall. UCI hosts UC San Diego Wednesday night before traveling to Northridge. Kelvin Neumetzler is tied with five other players for 10th in the Big West in goals with four. He is tied with two others for 10th in the conference in points (10). Ricardo Ibarra is tied with nine other players for ninth in the league in assists with three.

UC Irvine goalie Gordon Botterill is seventh in Division I in save percentage (.849) and 14h in Division I in goals-against average (0.85). He leads the Big West in both categories.

This is the 55th time that the Matadors and the Anteaters are playing men's soccer with CSUN leading the all-time series 27-21-6. The Matadors have won six in a row in the series including a 3-2 victory in the first round of the 2019 Big West Tournament in the last meeting between the teams.

CSUN fell to 2-12-1 overall (1-3-1 Big West) with a pair of road losses last week. The Matadors dropped a 1-0 decision at UC Riverside last Wednesday before losing 5-0 to UC Davis last Sunday.

Jamar Ricketts is seventh in the Big West in shots (27) and eighth in shots per game (0.80). Giovanni Aguilar's eight points have him in a tie with three others in the category. David Preys is sixth in the Big West in shutouts (2). He is seventh in saves per game (2.77), eighth in saves (36), and ninth in save percentage (.621).

~#UniteTheValley~

CSUN Hosts Cal State Fullerton; Travels to UC Irvine

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Giovanni Aguilar

David Preys

Jamar Ricketts