CSUN Begins 47th Season on Road Against Tulsa, Oral Roberts

NORTHRIDGE, Calif --- CSUN Men's Soccer opens its 47th season with a pair of matches on the road this week as the Matadors will take on Tulsa on Thursday at Hurricane Soccer and Track Stadium at 4:30 p.m. before visiting Oral Roberts on Sunday at 5:00 p.m. Thursday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+.

After tomorrow's contest, CSUN returns home for one last last exhibition game against Biola (08/30) before continuing the season at Matador Soccer Field against Seattle U on September 4th.

LAST TIME OUT
CSUN began exhibition play with a 1-0 defeat to the University of San Diego Toreros August 9th at Matador Soccer Field. A goal in the 20th minute by the Toreros proved to be the difference. The Matadors had six shots in the first two periods but were unable to find the back of the net in the defeat. The teams played two 45-minute periods and a 30-minute third period in the opening tuneup of the year.

The Matadors continued exhibition play with a road game with a win, defeating the UCLA Bruins, 2-1, in an exhibition match on Friday night at Wallis Annenberg Stadium. Yart Van Lieshout scored the game winner putting CSUN ahead with just a few minutes left to play in the second half.

The matchup was a back-and-forth gritty contest, with Luke Lawrence hitting the equalizer in the 26th minute after being down 1-0 in the early going. With four minutes left to go in the second half, CSUN threatened with a corner kick to try and pull ahead late. And pull ahead they did. The Matadors attempted a header that caromed off the goalkeeper, leaving Van Lieshout with a chance to put it in the net off the rebound. Off the defenders hand the initial shot went, and the sophomore from the Netherlands lasered a ball that found the left bottom corner of the net to make it 2-1 game.

TEAM OUTLOOK
The Matadors are set to play their 27th season under head coach Terry Davila. A total of 18 letterwinners return to the team in 2025. CSUN has also added 14 newcomers, including eight transfers and six freshmen.

CSUN is returning star junior Jorge Solorzano who is coming off a 2024 campaign where he was named to the All-Big West Second Team. Solorzano followed up his Big West Freshman of the Year campaign with a standout sophomore season in 2024.

The Palmdale native finished tied for third on the team in goals with three to go with seven points and one assist. Solorzano topped the Matadors with 35 shots, good enough for ninth in the Big West, and nine shots on goal. He started a career-high 16 matches, playing in 17 total while amassing 1,309 minutes on the field. In Big West play, Solorzano hit the net once, which was an equalizer against UC Davis in a 2-2 tie.

Four other key returners are seniors Jake Shaked, Siddiq Lezzar and Arturo Reveles and junior Zack Harris. Shaked, Lezzar, and Reveles played and started in all 17 games in 2024. Six goals were scored between the three of them. Harris did his work without scoring, as he led the team in assists with four.

Other members returning include juniors Sebastian Fuentes and Michael Blevins, sophomores Emanuele Susi, Ian Boras and Ryan Chu as well as seniors Odin Rosten, Eyifehn Forfor, Enrique Pineda, Finn Werner and Zion Wagoner.

In the net, the Matadors will return two goalkeepers in Jose Mendiola and Dorian Drucks, while adding Bryan Castaneda, a junior from Carlsbad, Calif. Castaneda is making his way to Northridge via Mira Costa CC, where he won Goalkeeper of the Year in his time there. Out of the six freshmen, all six of them come from California. Francisco Garibay comes from Oxnard, Miles Johnson comes from Oak Park, Daniel Garcia comes from Huntington Beach, and Devin Davila along with Dave-Ryan Tankou come from Woodland Hills.

A LOOK BACK AT 2024
After being picked to finish sixth in the Big West, CSUN ended its 2024 with a 2-8-7 overall record. Team highlights included upsetting No. 11 LMU 2-1 on the road on Aug. 25 to earn the first win of the campaign. Also, CSUN tied with No. 18 James Madison to kick-off the season 0-0 at Matador Soccer Field. Merrick Cook had three saves in the draw.

ABOUT TULSA
Head Coach Tom McIntosh is now in his 31st year leading the Hurricanes in the American Conference. Tulsa was picked by coaches to finish eighth overall in the conference after finishing seventh last season with a 2-4-1 league record. One of the top players on the team is Wes Bottenburg, who was tabbed the American Conference Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.

Series History: CSUN has been undefeated against Tulsa in the four matches played all-time. The first win came in 2001, marking the initial contest as the Matadors came out on top 1-0 away from Northridge. The last time these two teams faced was back in August 2016. CSUN won that match 2-1.

ABOUT ORAL ROBERTS
The Oral Roberts men's soccer team has been picked fourth in the 2025 Summit League preseason poll after finishing 7-6-3 (4-4 in conference) last season. Two Golden Eagles, Jakub Grzesiak and Juan Moreno, earned Player to Watch Honors. Grzesiak was a 2023 All-Summit League Second Team while Moreno was a 2023 All-Summer League First Team.

ORU had non-conference wins against fellow Big West opponents in Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara in 2024, with both triumphs coming on home turf at Case Soccer Complex.

Series History: Sunday's meeting marks the first meeting ever between these two teams.

#GoMatadors

CSUN Begins 47th Season on Road Against Tulsa, Oral Roberts

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Players Mentioned

Michael Blevins

Ian Boras

Bryan Castaneda

Ryan Chu

Merrick Cook

Devin Davila

Dorian Drucks

Eyifehn Forfor

Sebastian Fuentes

Daniel Garcia

Francisco Garibay

Zack Harris

Miles Johnson

Luke Lawrence

Siddiq Lezzar

Jose Mendiola

Enrique Pineda

Arturo Reveles

Odin Rosten

Jake Shaked

Jorge Solorzano

Emanuele Susi

Dave-Ryan Tankou

Yart Van Lieshout

Zion Wagoner

Finn Werner