Matadors Open 27th Season on the Road at Pepperdine, CBU

Thursday, August 18

Malibu, Calif.

3:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

#17 Pepperdine

Photo by: Will Navarro

Matadors Open 27th Season on the Road at Pepperdine, CBU

8/16/2022 2:22:00 PM | Women's Soccer

FULL GAME NOTES

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN kicks off its 27th season of women's soccer this week with a pair of road challenges. The Matadors visit No. 17 Pepperdine on Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m. before taking on California Baptist on Saturday at 7 p.m. CSUN's season opener will stream on the WCC Network while Saturday's match will be broadcast on ESPN+.

TEAM OUTLOOK
The Matadors return 12 total letterwinners this season, two of which have not played since the 2019. However, many of the team's key contributors from last season's squad return to the lineup including nine players that made 12 or more starts. The returning group also accounted for 10 of the team's 17 goals scored last fall.

Fifth-year senior Gabriela Robles, who started 19 matches last season and scored twice, has appeared in the most matches of any returning player with 57 career appearances. Cindy Arteaga dished out a team-high four assists and added a goal last fall as she shared the team lead in points with six. Brooke Mobeck had five points in her first season with CSUN in 2021 while Ashley Cruz, a sixth-year forward, netted two goals a season ago. The defensive trio of Kacie Garrity, Erin Anderson and Sami Alarcon have also returned to the team along with key second-year starters Ashly Torres and Angelica Claiborne. After missing last season due to injury, goalkeeper Taylor Thames and forward Izabel Reyes have returned to the active roster in 2022.

On the flip side, the Matadors bring aboard a host of new faces this season with the addition of 16 true freshmen, three Division I transfers, one of which a redshirt freshman, and a junior college transfer.

MATADORS BATTLES SANTA CLARA IN EXHIBITION PLAY
CSUN opened up fall competition with an exhibition match against Santa Clara on Aug. 13 at Matador Soccer Field. Santa Clara would prevail by a 2-0 margin, scoring an insurance goal in the 86th minute of play. Despite the result, the Matadors nearly came away with goals throughout the contest and held the Broncos, a NCAA College Cup semifinalist in 2021, to a single goal for almost 90 minutes.

A total of 22 Matadors played in the contest, highlighted by the debuts of 14 newcomers. Of the 14 new faces, 12 were freshmen with four making the start in the match. Freshman goalkeeper Hayden Mauldin played the full 90 minutes in goal and had three saves on the night.

ARETAGA EARNS PRESEASON HONORS, CSUN PICKED 10TH
Cindy Arteaga was placed on the 11-member Preseason All-Big West Team as voted on by the conference's head coaches on Aug. 15. A two-year letterwinner, Arteaga appeared in 19 matches with the Matadors last season, making the fourth-most starts on the team with 15. She topped CSUN in assists (4), shots (10) and shots on goal (12) while sharing the team lead in points (6). Arteaga registered four of her six points in Big West play. In her CSUN career, Arteaga has recorded three points, four assists and 10 points in 41 matches.

As a team, CSUN was picked to finish 10th in the 2022 Preseason Big West Coaches Poll and finished with 20 points. Last season's Big West Tournament champion UC Irvine was selected to win the conference again, finishing with five first-place votes and 91 points.

ANOTHER CHALLENGING SCHEDULE AHEAD
CSUN played one of the toughest schedules of any Big West team last season, which featured five Pac-12 Conference opponents. In 2022, the Matadors have another challenging schedule set against five NCAA Tournament teams including the 2021 College Cup runner-up and three conference champions.

Four of the Matadors' opponents this season are ranked in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Top 25. Aside from Pepperdine, the Matadors' opponent next week, UCLA, was ranked 13th in the top-25 while CSUN's September opponents, BYU and USC, were ranked third and 15th, respectively.

CSUN will play 10 of its 19 regular season games on the road this season with seven of those opponents posting winning records in 2021.

JOHNSON LEADING PROGRAM
Christine Johnson officially was announced as the head coach of the Matadors on June 22. Johnson served as acting head coach last fall at CSUN and held that position through earlier this year. During the offseason, she added 20 newcomers to the roster. She also added two assistant coaches to fill out the CSUN staff with the additions of two-time MLS Cup champion and CSUN men's soccer alum Rafael Garcia and veteran collegiate goalkeeper coach and academy coach Dan Solli.

SERIES HISTORY
Pepperdine leads CSUN 9-1-3 in the all-time series but the teams have played in a number of one-goal games over their series history. The team last met in 2019 with the Waves collecting a 1-0 win at Matador Soccer Field. Over the last four meetings, CSUN is 1-2-1 against Pepperdine. The Matadors though are 0-5-1 in Malibu all time in the series.

CSUN and California Baptist will meet for the first-ever time in women's soccer on Saturday evening.

SCOUTING PEPPERDINE
The Waves went 17-4-1 last season and 6-2-1 in the West Coast Conference. Pepperdine advanced to the Round of 16 last season where it fell to Florida State by a 1-0 score. The team returned a number of its key players this season including eight starters and 19 total letterwinners. The Waves were picked to finish third in the West Coast Conference this season by league's coaches. Head coach Tim Ward enters his 25th season leading the Waves in 2022.

Trinity Watson and Tori Waldeck were placed on the Preseason All-WCC Team while Watson also earned a spot on the Top Drawer Soccer Preseason Best XI Third Team. Waldeck had nine goals and 10 assists last season. Watson added five goals and five assists. The Waves were 13th in the nation in goals-against-average (0.58) while they were 16th-best scoring offense (2.50 goals per game) in 2021.

SCOUTING CALIFORNIA BAPTIST
The Lancers finished 6-8-3 overall and 4-4-2 in the WAC in 2021. CBU was picked to finish fourth in the WAC this season by the conference's head coaches. This season marks the first year where CBU can compete for postseason play in the WAC and the NCAA Tournament after undergoing a transition to Division I status. Head coach Kristin St. Clair is in her 16th season at the helm of the program.

Erin Gallagher, a senior defender, was placed on the Preseason All-WAC Team this season. Gallagher was previously an All-WAC First Team selection. Malia Cerdon, the team's top goal scorer last season, had three goals in 2021. Madison Sonerholm also had one goal and two assists for CBU last fall.

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