CSUN Hosts Santa Clara on Sunday Afternoon

GAME NOTES

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Soccer continues its non-conference slate on Sunday when it hosts Santa Clara. Kickoff is set for 3:05 p.m. on ESPN+ with Ghizal Hasan on the call.

MVP SUNDAY
CSUN will honor its University Faculty on Sunday in its Most Valuable Professor (MVP) game. Members of the CSUN Men's Soccer team will honor its favorite professors, who have significantly impacted their academic journey, at halftime. This season will be the second MVP day for the men's soccer team. CSUN Athletics honors professors at fall, winter and spring games throughout the academic year.

ABOUT LAST WEEK
The Matadors played on the road last week, finishing 0-1-1 in a pair of close soccer matches. CSUN earned a 3-3 tie at California Baptist on Wednesday evening as the Matadors fought back from a 3-1 deficit at halftime to score twice in the second half to pick up the draw. Jorge Solorzano recorded a brace in the match including the game-tying strike in the 68th minute off a penalty kick while Marley Edwards, who assisted on Solorzano's first goal, hit his first goal of the season in the 64th minute to help start the comeback. On Sunday, CSUN would drop a 1-0 decision to UNLV with the Rebels hitting the game winner in the 35th minute. The Matadors outshot the Rebels 13-10 in the match and held a 11-1 edge in corner kicks but could not find the equalizer down the stretch.

SOLORZANO'S BRACE
Sophomore Jorge Solorzano became the first Matador this season to score two goals in a game in CSUN's 3-3 tie at California Baptist. He scored his first goal in the first half via a pass from Marley Edwards while his second was a penalty kick that tied the game up. His brace was the first of his CSUN career while they were his first two goals of the season. Solorzano is the first CSUN player to record a brace since Zack Harris accomplished the feat against UC Santa Barbara on Oct. 21, 2023. Last season's Big West Freshman of the Year, Solorzano scored five goals last season for CSUN.

DEFENSE, DEFENSE, DEFENSE
CSUN enters play this week tied for second in The Big West in goals-against-average at a 1.00 clip while the team has posted the third-best save percentage (.769) and third-most shutouts (2). Individually, Merrick Cook is second in the league in GAA and shutouts while he is sixth in saves (20). As a team, CSUN ranks 41st nationally in save percentage and goals-against-average. In five of six matches this season, CSUN has allowed one goal or fewer.

MATADOR LEADERS
Jorge Solorzano tops CSUN with two goals while Marley Edwards is the team leader in assists with two. Both Solorzano and Edwards are ranked seventh in The Big West in those categories, respectively. Edwards, Deryk Jones Jr. and Arturo Reveles each have one goal on the year. Solorzano also leads the squad with 13 shots and five on goal. On defense, Jake Shaked had played the most minutes on the team with 540 on the backline followed closely by Siddiq Lezzar at 539.

SCOUTING SANTA CLARA
The Broncos come in with a 3-3-1 overall record after suffering a 2-1 loss to Sacramento State on Thursday. The team has also played two other Big West teams in UC San Diego (1-0 win) and UC Davis (2-1 loss) this season. In 2023, Santa Clara claimed a share of the West Coast Conference regular season title, finishing with a 7-7-3 overall record and 5-1-1 league mark. Prior to this season, Santa Clara was picked to finish sixth in the WCC. The tandem of Florian Deletioglu and Tyler Tipton have three goals each this season to lead the team while two others have one goal. Jack Stoecker has seen the most minutes in goal this season, totaling 13 saves with a 1.00 GAA and one shutout.

Series History: The Broncos lead the Matadors 5-4 in the all-time series after taking the last two meetings. Santa Clara picked up a 1-0 win over CSUN at home last season. CSUN's last win in the series was a 2-0 road win in 2015.

#GoMatadors

CSUN Hosts Santa Clara on Sunday Afternoon

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Players Mentioned

Merrick Cook

Marley Edwards

Zack Harris

Siddiq Lezzar

Arturo Reveles

Jake Shaked

Jorge Solorzano