Photo by: Anthony Fortie
CSUN's Riley Liebsack Earns Big West Defensive Player of the Week Honors
9/29/2025 2:59:00 PM | Women's Soccer
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Women's Soccer's senior goalkeeper Riley Liebsack received her first career Big West Defensive Player of the Week award on Monday, the league office announced.
Making her 30th and 31st consecutive starts for CSUN in goal, Liebsack helped the Matadors record two shutout wins over UC Irvine and UC Riverside at Matador Soccer Field this past week. The two clean sheets continued CSUN's streak of three straight shutouts to open Big West play as the Matadors are 2-0-1 in conference.Â
A Torrance native, Liebsack opened the week with a four-save performance against the high-powered UC Irvine offense on Thursday. She would see 16 total shots and two corner kicks against the Anteaters while turning away three shots in the second half alone. CSUN would take a 1-0 lead in the 61st minute on a strike from Cassidy Imperial-Pham and hold on down the stretch to secure the team's first win over UC Irvine since the 2019 season.Â
On Sunday, Liebsack was outstanding again in goal for CSUN in a 2-0 win over UC Riverside. The Matador netminder had two more saves while facing 11 total shots in the match. Her shutout was her third consecutive for CSUN, becoming the first Matador to accomplish the feat since Amanda Delgado in 2019. CSUN would get goals from Paige Califf and Yasmin Azar in the victory.Â
Liebsack is the first Matador to be named Big West Defensive Player of the Week since Hayden Mauldin won the award in Oct. 2023. Prior to making her debut with CSUN in 2024, Liebsack earned two Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week awards from 2021-22 as a member of UNLV.Â
CSUN's three consecutive shutouts to open Big West play are the first for the program since the 2004 season while the Matadors are unbeaten through their first three league games for the first time since 2015.
CSUN will return to action on Sunday afternoon for a road test at UC San Diego. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. on ESPN+.Â
#GoMatadors
Â
Making her 30th and 31st consecutive starts for CSUN in goal, Liebsack helped the Matadors record two shutout wins over UC Irvine and UC Riverside at Matador Soccer Field this past week. The two clean sheets continued CSUN's streak of three straight shutouts to open Big West play as the Matadors are 2-0-1 in conference.Â
A Torrance native, Liebsack opened the week with a four-save performance against the high-powered UC Irvine offense on Thursday. She would see 16 total shots and two corner kicks against the Anteaters while turning away three shots in the second half alone. CSUN would take a 1-0 lead in the 61st minute on a strike from Cassidy Imperial-Pham and hold on down the stretch to secure the team's first win over UC Irvine since the 2019 season.Â
On Sunday, Liebsack was outstanding again in goal for CSUN in a 2-0 win over UC Riverside. The Matador netminder had two more saves while facing 11 total shots in the match. Her shutout was her third consecutive for CSUN, becoming the first Matador to accomplish the feat since Amanda Delgado in 2019. CSUN would get goals from Paige Califf and Yasmin Azar in the victory.Â
Liebsack is the first Matador to be named Big West Defensive Player of the Week since Hayden Mauldin won the award in Oct. 2023. Prior to making her debut with CSUN in 2024, Liebsack earned two Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week awards from 2021-22 as a member of UNLV.Â
CSUN's three consecutive shutouts to open Big West play are the first for the program since the 2004 season while the Matadors are unbeaten through their first three league games for the first time since 2015.
CSUN will return to action on Sunday afternoon for a road test at UC San Diego. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. on ESPN+.Â
#GoMatadors
Â
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