CSUN Pulls Away in Second Half to Defeat Bakersfield, 4-1

Saturday, October 3

Bakersfield, Calif.

7:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

4-5-4, 2-1-1

Cal State Bakersfield

1-11-1, 0-4-0

Team	1	2	Final F
CSUN	1	3	4
CSU Bakersfield	0	1	1

Photo by: Chuck Marvel

CSUN Pulls Away in Second Half to Defeat Bakersfield, 4-1

10/3/2026 9:52:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

BAKERSFIELD, Calif.---CSUN scored three unanswered goals in the second half to pull away with a 4-1 road victory against Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday at the Main Soccer Field. Off the bench, Malea Johnson recorded her first career brace and added an assist while fellow reserves McKenzie Sanchez and Jana Akins each had a goal and an assist apiece in the win.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The first half took the shape of a defensive battle with the score deadlocked at 0-0 for most of the 45-minute session. CSUN's defense held Bakersfield off the scoreboard despite an 8-5 advantage in shots for the 'Runners. Hayden Mauldin produced four saves in the first half, with none bigger than in the 36th minute of action. After CSUN was whistled for a foul in its own box, the 'Runners were awarded a penalty kick. However, Mauldin turned away the attempt from Tania Tapia. Just before halftime, the Matadors broke the scoreless tie when Johnson set up Sanchez's first career goal. Veronica Toscano nearly put away another shot for CSUN in the 45th minute, but the Roadrunners' defense denied the shot for a team save.

CSUN took a 1-0 lead into the second half, but Bakersfield fought back early in the second half. In the 57th minute, Leslie Duarte brought the 'Runners level by scoring from close range after a pass from Reagan Neese. The Matadors though had a quick response when Johnson scored her first goal of the season just six minutes later.

CSUN was far from done on the offensive end in the second half as Johnson scored her second goal of the match in the 69th minute, set up by the freshman tandem of Sanchez and Akins. The lead would stretch further less than four minutes later when Ariana Lopez-Angel found Akins for the Matadors' fourth goal of the night. In the latter stages of the match, Johnson nearly came away with a hat trick as the Runners' defense stopped her shot at the goal line in the 86th minute.

NOTES OF THE GAME

CSUN improves to 4-5-4 overall this season with a 2-1-1 Big West record while Cal State Bakersfield slips to 1-11-1 overall and 0-4 in conference.
Mauldin, a Bakersfield native, totaled six saves on the night.
Johnson becomes the second Matador this season to score twice in the same match, joining Yasmin Azar who accomplished the feat on Sept. 10.
Akins has now scored in three straight matches and in the second half of each of those contests.
Lopez-Angel recorded her third assist of the season while Sanchez picked up her second helper.
The Roadrunners led in the shot count, 15-13, but CSUN had a 9-7 edge in shots on goal.
The Matadors finished with a 4-2 edge in corner kicks.
The group of Keilani Claiborne, Siena Navarra, Emerson Moran, Alex Valente and Michelle Monroy played the full 90 minutes.
CSUN has scored 11 combined goals over its last three matches.

ACCORDING TO COACH GINA BREWER
"We are so proud of the game changers (CSUN reserves) who came in and affected the game tremendously. Malea with that first assist to McKenzie and then scoring two more goals while Jana scoring again, it just shows the buy in from all of our players and their ability to make important contributions to the team when called upon!"

UP NEXT
CSUN returns to action next weekend when it takes on UC Irvine on Saturday, Oct. 10 at Anteater Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.

#GoMatadors