CSUN Faces UC Riverside, Sacramento State on the Road

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Women's Soccer hits the road this week for a pair of pivotal Big West matchups. The Matadors face UC Riverside on Wednesday at 7 p.m. before meeting Sacramento State on Saturday at 3 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+.

FOR STARTERS
The Matadors (5-5-6, 3-1-3 Big West) are coming down the home stretch of the regular season as only four games remain on the schedule. CSUN is currently in a three-way tie for third place with UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego in a tight Big West race as each team has 12 points and 3-1-3 conference records. Right behind those teams are Cal Poly and Long Beach State, tied for the sixth and final postseason spot with 2-2-3 records and nine points. Atop the Big West standings, Cal State Fullerton and Utah Valley are each 5-0-2 with 17 points. The top six in the Big West standings advance to the conference tournament set to begin in two weeks.

KEEP ON STREAKING
CSUN enters play this week on a six-match unbeaten streak along with a five-match unbeaten streak in road games. The six-match streak has come against conference competition and is just one match short of a program record. The Matadors are coming off a 3-0 road trip earlier in the month as they racked up 12 combined goals in wins over Long Beach State, Cal State Bakersfield and UC Irvine. Since the start of last month, the Matadors have only tasted defeat just one time, going 4-1-6 over the past 11 matches.

ABOUT LAST WEEK
The Matadors earned two points in last week's matches, playing to draws with Cal Poly, 1-1, and California Baptist, 0-0, at Matador Soccer Field.

On Thursday, CSUN would take an early lead with Cal Poly, scoring a sixth-minute penalty kick off the foot of Yasmin Azar. However, the Mustangs found the equalizer in the 26th minute via a corner kick. Senior goalkeeper Hayden Mauldin made six saves on the night to help keep the Mustangs off the scoreboard the rest of the way. In the match, the two sides were even in the shot count with 14 attempts each while the Mustangs led 7-2 in shots on goal.

CSUN and CBU played to a scoreless draw but each side would have scoring chances throughout Saturday's contest. The Matadors racked up 18 shots, compared to 14 for the Lancers. Jordyn Canister, who finished with a team-high five shots, hit the crossbar in the 86th minute while Mauldin made four saves in earning the clean sheet.

HITTING THE NET AWAY FROM HOME
The ball has hit the net with regularly for the Matadors in road games this season as CSUN has racked up 21 total goals through nine road contests. The Matadors are averaging 2.3 goals per game in road games on the season while scoring two or more times in each of the past six matches away from home. Conversely, CSUN has only scored six total goals at Matador Soccer Field this season. The Matadors though have been more formidable on the defensive side at home, giving up six total goals at home while 23 have been scored against CSUN on the road.

LIGHTING UP THE SCOREBOARD
Despite suffering its first shutout in six games last Saturday against CBU, the Matadors enter play this week with 24 goals scored over their last 10 matches, good enough for an average of 2.4 goals per game. Yasmin Azar hit the net for a team-leading fifth time last Wednesday against Cal Poly to move her into a fifth-place tie on the Big West's goals scored list. Azar is also sixth in the league in assists (5) and points (15). Ariana Lopez-Angel has moved into ninth place in the conference in points (12) while she has four goals and four assists. Jordyn Canister, who ranks fourth in the conference in shots with 40, has also scored a career-high four goals for CSUN. As a team, CSUN has hit the net 27 times this season, which are the most for the program in a season since 2015.

SCOUTING UC RIVERSIDE
The Highlanders are 2-11-1 overall and 0-6-1 in Big West play. In last week's action, UCR dropped a 2-1 decision to Cal State Bakersfield on Wednesday and a 3-0 match to Utah Valley on Saturday. As a team, UCR has totaled eight goals with 22 goals against on the season. Lauren Nguyen tops the team with two goals and four points while six other Highlanders have scored once each. In goal, KaMia Elliott sports a 1.60 goals-against-average with 51 saves over 13 appearances.

Series History: CSUN leads the all-time series with the Highlanders at 16-7-2. Last season, the Matadors came away with a 2-0 victory at Matador Soccer Field to extend their unbeaten streak in the series to 10 straight matches. The teams played to a 2-2 draw in their last meeting at UC Riverside in 2024.

SCOUTING SACRAMENTO STATE
The Hornets hold a 5-5-3 overall record and a 1-3-3 conference mark. While the team is tied for ninth in the Big West standings, Sacramento State is just three points back of the top six in the conference. Last week, the Hornets fell to UC San Diego 3-0 on the road and to Cal State Fullerton 1-0 at home. The team has posted 20 goals along with 20 goals allowed. Candace Ching tops the Hornets with five goals and 13 points while both Ellie Farber and Mia Jackson have three goals apiece. Goalkeeper Delaney Timmons, who started the team's last match, sports a 0.90 GAA with 20 saves.

Series History: The Matadors hold a 7-4-1 lead in the all-time series with the Hornets, but Sacramento State has prevailed by a 1-0 margin in each of the past two seasons. The teams are playing for the first time as Big West members on Saturday.

#GoMatadors

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Players Mentioned

Yasmin Azar

Jordyn Canister

Ariana Lopez-Angel

Hayden Mauldin

California State University Northridge Athletics