California State University Northridge Athletics
2025-26 Top CSUN Moments - Women's Soccer Claims Big West Title
7/6/2026 11:55:00 AM | Women's Soccer
From July 6 to August 7, GoMatadors.com will present the top CSUN Moments from the 2025-26 sports season. Today, we celebrate the Matador women's soccer team's Big West regular season title victory.Â
CSUN reached the top of the Big West in the 2025 regular season, culminating a two-year turnaround for the program under head coach Gina Brewer. Defying preseason expectations, which had CSUN picked to finish ninth in the Big West Preseason Coaches' Poll, the Matadors would win their second Big West regular season championship in school history and first overall since 2016.Â
After inheriting a program that finished in last place in the Big West and with one win total in 2023, Brewer led the Matadors to a 6-1-3 Big West record and an 8-7-5 overall mark in an amazing 2025 season. CSUN's conference win percentage of .750 was the program's best since the 2016 season as Brewer coached the program to its first winning season in six years. For her efforts, Brewer became the third Matador head coach to ever win the Big West Coach of the Year award following the regular season.
Behind one of the toughest defenses in the Big West, the Matadors recorded nine shutouts on the season including seven straight to start Big West action. Senior goalie Riley Liebsack, an All-Big West Second Team honoree, played every single minute in front of the net, posting a 0.79 goals-against-average while All-Big West First Team selections Paige Califf and Sydney Lipkin anchored the Matador defense that allowed just four goals in Big West play.Â
The season saw the emergence of senior forward Cailey Jackson, who led the team with five goals and 13 points while seven other Matadors hit the back of the net during the course of the season. Among the myriad of Matador goal scorers was Jordyn Canister who hit three goals, all of which game winners, with none bigger than her game-winning strike in CSUN's regular season finale with Long Beach State that clinched a Big West crown.Â
The Matadors though went through adversity at the start of the year, struggling to just a 2-6-1 overall record against non-conference foes. However, starting with a scoreless draw at Cal State Fullerton, CSUN began an unparalleled streak of dominance on the defensive end. Shutting down seven straight opponents to begin Big West play, the Matadors went 5-0-2 over that stretch.Â
CSUN would wrap up the regular season with a thrilling come-from-behind victory over Long Beach State on Senior Night. Needing a win and a UC Santa Barbara loss to clinch the regular season title, CSUN would erase an early 1-0 deficit with second-half strikes from freshman Lia Peterson and Canister while the Matador defense would do the rest in protecting a 2-1 victory. Coupled with a UCSB loss on the night, CSUN clinched the Big West title and a No. 1 seed in the Big West Championship.Â
In the postseason, CSUN matched up with UC Santa Barbara in a Big West semifinal match at Matador Soccer Field. Once again, the Matadors fell behind 1-0 but rallied again late in the match. A costly UCSB foul gave CSUN a penalty kick with just 1:22 left to play. Califf would calmly hit the equalizer, eventually sending the game to overtime. After two heart-pounding overtime periods, neither team would find the game winner as the match would be decided in a penalty kick shootout. Despite a valiant effort from the Matadors, UCSB edged CSUN 3-2 in the shootout to advance to the Big West finals.Â
Going down in history as one of the top Matador defenses in school history, the 2025 Matadors hold the program record for consecutive shutouts with seven while they tied the school mark with six Big West wins. CSUN finished first in the Big West in save percentage in conference play at .900 and shared the top spot in the conference with a 0.40 goals-against-against in league action, cementing itself as one of the most accomplished teams in school history.Â
#GoMatadors
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CSUN reached the top of the Big West in the 2025 regular season, culminating a two-year turnaround for the program under head coach Gina Brewer. Defying preseason expectations, which had CSUN picked to finish ninth in the Big West Preseason Coaches' Poll, the Matadors would win their second Big West regular season championship in school history and first overall since 2016.Â
After inheriting a program that finished in last place in the Big West and with one win total in 2023, Brewer led the Matadors to a 6-1-3 Big West record and an 8-7-5 overall mark in an amazing 2025 season. CSUN's conference win percentage of .750 was the program's best since the 2016 season as Brewer coached the program to its first winning season in six years. For her efforts, Brewer became the third Matador head coach to ever win the Big West Coach of the Year award following the regular season.
Behind one of the toughest defenses in the Big West, the Matadors recorded nine shutouts on the season including seven straight to start Big West action. Senior goalie Riley Liebsack, an All-Big West Second Team honoree, played every single minute in front of the net, posting a 0.79 goals-against-average while All-Big West First Team selections Paige Califf and Sydney Lipkin anchored the Matador defense that allowed just four goals in Big West play.Â
The season saw the emergence of senior forward Cailey Jackson, who led the team with five goals and 13 points while seven other Matadors hit the back of the net during the course of the season. Among the myriad of Matador goal scorers was Jordyn Canister who hit three goals, all of which game winners, with none bigger than her game-winning strike in CSUN's regular season finale with Long Beach State that clinched a Big West crown.Â
The Matadors though went through adversity at the start of the year, struggling to just a 2-6-1 overall record against non-conference foes. However, starting with a scoreless draw at Cal State Fullerton, CSUN began an unparalleled streak of dominance on the defensive end. Shutting down seven straight opponents to begin Big West play, the Matadors went 5-0-2 over that stretch.Â
CSUN would wrap up the regular season with a thrilling come-from-behind victory over Long Beach State on Senior Night. Needing a win and a UC Santa Barbara loss to clinch the regular season title, CSUN would erase an early 1-0 deficit with second-half strikes from freshman Lia Peterson and Canister while the Matador defense would do the rest in protecting a 2-1 victory. Coupled with a UCSB loss on the night, CSUN clinched the Big West title and a No. 1 seed in the Big West Championship.Â
In the postseason, CSUN matched up with UC Santa Barbara in a Big West semifinal match at Matador Soccer Field. Once again, the Matadors fell behind 1-0 but rallied again late in the match. A costly UCSB foul gave CSUN a penalty kick with just 1:22 left to play. Califf would calmly hit the equalizer, eventually sending the game to overtime. After two heart-pounding overtime periods, neither team would find the game winner as the match would be decided in a penalty kick shootout. Despite a valiant effort from the Matadors, UCSB edged CSUN 3-2 in the shootout to advance to the Big West finals.Â
Going down in history as one of the top Matador defenses in school history, the 2025 Matadors hold the program record for consecutive shutouts with seven while they tied the school mark with six Big West wins. CSUN finished first in the Big West in save percentage in conference play at .900 and shared the top spot in the conference with a 0.40 goals-against-against in league action, cementing itself as one of the most accomplished teams in school history.Â
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Players Mentioned
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