Matadors Take On UC San Diego in Key Big West Bout

GAME NOTES
NORTHRIDGE, Calif --- CSUN men's soccer (6-4-4, 1-3-1 Big West) is set to take on the UC San Diego Tritons (0-7-6, 0-1-4 Big West) at Matador Soccer Field on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats will be available on GoMatadors.com

LAST TIME OUT
CSUN fell to the UC Irvine Anteaters, 1-0 at Anteater Stadium in Irvine, Calif. on Wednesday night. Misael Gonzalez Lopez of UCI scored the match's lone goal in the 29th minute, converting from close range after a feed from Marcus Lee to put the Anteaters ahead. The Matadors pressed for an equalizer in the closing moments but couldn't find the back of the net.

CSUN created several promising opportunities late in the match, including a low shot from Zack Harris in the 87th minute that was stopped by UC Irvine goalkeeper Joe O'Shaughnessy. In total, CSUN had seven shots in the match, with one of them being on goal. Justin Sosa led the way for the Matadors with three shots.

Defensively, goalkeeper Dorian Drucks made two saves for the Matadors, who held the Anteaters scoreless over the final 60 minutes. CSUN earned nine corner kicks while limiting UC Irvine to just three shots on target.

DEFENSIVE FOUNDATIONS
The defense for the Matadors so far has been CSUN's calling card in 2025. The Matadors rank first in the Big West in goals against, only allowing eight scores all season. Opponents are averaging .571 goals a game against CSUN so far in the campaign.

Siddiq Lezzar, Luke Lawrence and Jake Shaked have been pillars on the defensive backline for the Matadors. Lezzar and Lawrence have started and played in all 14 games. Lezzar leads the team in minutes played with 1,233 minutes tallied. The senior from Houston, Texas is a big reason why opposing offenses struggle to find a rhythm

Lawrence, the senior from Scottsdale, Ariz., has been on the defensive side of the ball in 1,168 minutes, which is third on the team. He has played all 90 minutes in six games for CSUN.

Shaked, the senior from Western Australia, was halted by injury in the first two games of the year, but since then he has played in 12 games and started in 11 of them. Shaked has played every minute in all five Big West games played.

CSUN's "Big Three" have been in the backfield for eight shutouts. The Matadors are ranked 20th in the nation in shutout percentage.

ALL ABOUT THE STANDINGS
The Matadors are currently 1-3-1 in Big West play as they have tallied four points on the season. CSUN is currently tied for seventh, but is more importantly just one point behind UC Davis (5 pts) for the final spot in the Big West Men's Soccer Championship.

The 2025 Big West Men's Soccer Championship will feature the top six teams in the standings at the conclusion of the regular season. Nos. 1 and 2 will receive a bye into the semifinal round, with the No. 3 seed hosting No. 6 and the No. 4 seed hosting No. 5 in the opening round of play on Wednesday, Nov. 5.

After Saturday's match against UCSD, the Matadors' three remaining games come against teams who already hold a playoff spot. This makes Saturday's game against the Tritons that much more important.

SCOUTING UC SAN DIEGO
UCSD (0-7-6, 0-1-4 Big West) is currently winless on the season. The Tritons are looking to break their winless streak on the road in Northridge, a feat the Tritons have yet to accomplish over the history of this matchup.

UCSD is winless, but that is a deceiving stat. The non-conference portion of its schedule has been unforgiving. Five of the Tritons' eight nonconference opponents have spent time in the Top 25 this season, with four of those five matches coming away from home. Cal, Duke, USD and Utah Valley were all ranked at the time the Tritons played them.

UCSD kicked off the Big West portion of the schedule with four consecutive ties, before being handed its first defeat at the hands of Cal Poly as the Mustangs won in commanding fashion, 4-0. Evan Wellerstein and Adam Dunbar have four of the six goals scored this season for the Tritons.

SERIES HISTORY:
CSUN is 5-1 all-time against UC San Diego, with the first match dating all the way back to 1980. The Matadors won five consecutive games in the series before falling in its most recent bout, 1-0, on October 5th of 2024.

Matadors Take On UC San Diego in Key Big West Bout

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Players Mentioned

Dorian Drucks

Zack Harris

Luke Lawrence

Siddiq Lezzar

Jake Shaked

Justin Sosa