CSUN Opens 31st Season of Women's Soccer This Week

Wednesday, August 12

Boise, Idaho

6:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

Boise State

Photo by: Chuck Marvel

CSUN Opens 31st Season of Women's Soccer This Week

8/11/2026 1:17:00 PM | Women's Soccer

WSOC Game Notes - Aug. 11

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Women's Soccer opens its 31st season this week with a pair of road matches. The Matadors travel to Boise State in the 2026 opener on Wednesday at 6 p.m. with a video stream available on the Pac-12's YouTube page. The week wraps up with a Saturday night road test at Idaho at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.

FOR STARTERS
The Matadors are looking to build on a historic 2025 season that saw CSUN claim the program's second Big West regular season championship in school history and first in nine seasons. CSUN returns much of the same look of last year's team as 14 past letterwinners rejoin the team this season, highlighted by seven starters. Nine total newcomers make up roster including two Division I transfers.

Head coach Gina Brewer returns for her third season leading the team alongside associate head coach Kevin Pineda and assistant Dan Solli, which are in their third and fifth seasons, respectively. Brewer received Big West Coach of the Year honors after coaching CSUN to a 6-1-3 mark in the Big West and an 8-7-5 record overall. Taking over a team that had finished in last place in 2023, Brewer has guided CSUN to a 9-5-6 Big West record over her first two seasons.

FAMILIAR FACES ON DEFENSE
Anchoring the backline, junior Sydney Lipkin picked up Preseason All-Big West honors this season while she took home first-team all-conference accolades in 2025 after starting all 20 matches. Junior Siena Navarra, who had three points in 2025, also returns to help manage the defense alongside sophomore starters Alex Valente and Michelle Monroy.

Hayden Mauldin returns to CSUN as the team's starting goalkeeper in 2026 after missing the past two seasons with injury. From 2022-23, Mauldin started 29 matches in goal and totaled 94 saves with four shutouts. Redshirt freshman Isabella Andrino and incoming freshman Alana Miller provide extra depth at goalkeeper for CSUN.

Joining the Matador defense this season will be junior transfer Paige Harris (Idaho State), returning sophomore Ireland Regan and incoming freshmen Harper Curnutt (Auburn Riverside HS/Pacific Northwest SC) and Emerson Moran (Bellevue HS/Seattle Reign Academy).

MATADOR FORWARDS AND MIDFIELDERS
In the midfield, sophomore Lia Peterson enjoyed a strong freshman season with CSUN, posting five points and two goals. Also returning will be junior Keilani Claiborne who brings experience with 14 starts over 31 total appearances since 2024. Returning from injury, sophomore Ariana Lopez-Angel started three of six total matches in the early portion of 2025 before missing the final 14 matches. Sophomore Alena Ramirez rounds out the returning midfielders as she saw action in four games. Freshmen Amaya Jackson (Brookwood HS/GSA) and Thresea Castro (Bonita Vista HS/Rebels SC) will each make their CSUN debut in 2026.

Up front at forward, CSUN returns the junior tandem of Jordyn Canister and Yasmin Azar, both of which scored three goals and totaled seven points in 2025. Junior Kayden Perigo, another returning starter, has totaled two goals and six points previously in her two-year CSUN career. Sophomore Veronica Toscano rounds out the returning forwards as she looks for an expanded role this season. A Long Beach State transfer, Malea Johnson has scored a goal in each of her previous two seasons in college while freshmen Jana Akins (Estancia HS/Slammers HB Koge) and McKenzie Sanchez (Mt. Carmel HS/Rebels SC) join the Matadors this year.

SEASON REWIND
CSUN returned to the top of the Big West in the regular season behind one of the toughest defenses in school history. The Matadors bounced back from a 2-6-1 start to the season to record a school-record seven straight shutouts to open Big West play as they racked up five wins over that span. CSUN would ultimately surrender just four goals in Big West play while the team received offensive contributions from up and down its roster throughout conference play. On the final day of the regular season, CSUN rallied to defeat Long Beach State on second-half goals from Lia Peterson and Jordyn Canister to secure a Big West regular season championship with a 6-1-3 league record. In the Big West Championship semifinals, the Matadors played UC Santa Barbara to 1-1 draw but would fall in a penalty kick shootout, 3-2.

CSUN PICKED EIGHTH
A season removed from winning the Big West, CSUN was picked to finish eighth in the preseason coaches' poll. Last season's Big West Championship finalists, Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara were tied for first place in the poll while the rest of the top six consisted of Cal State Fullerton in third, Utah Valley in fourth, UC Irvine in fifth and Long Beach State in sixth. The Matadors defied last year's preseason prediction of ninth place to finish atop the conference standings.

SCOUTING BOISE STATE
The Broncos finished 10-3-8 overall and atop the Mountain West standings with an 8-0-2 record. The team would be denied a NCAA Tournament berth after falling in penalty kicks in the Mountain West championship game. Boise State enters its first season in 2026 in the new-look Pac-12 Conference. The Broncos' sophomore Ava de Leest returns after earning Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year honors as she posted a .931 goals-against-average. De Leest was named to the United Soccer Coaches Goalkeeper watchlist this season while Jillian Anderson (midfielder) and Kaitlyn Slocum (defender) were also placed on similar watchlists in their respective positions. Anderson is the top returning goal scorer on the team with five goals and three assists last year.

Series History: CSUN plays Boise State for the first time in team history on Wednesday.

SCOUTING IDAHO
The Vandals went 6-5-9 last season as well as 2-2-4 in the Big Sky Conference to finish fifth in the standings. Idaho's leading scorer from 2025, Sara Rodgers returns to the team after netting seven goals and posting 15 points. The returning tandem of Georgia Whitehead and Calli Chiarelli also netted three goals each for Idaho last season. A defender, Izzy Thoma received first-team all-conference honors last season, posting a pair of assists for the year. In front of the net, Paula Flores managed goalkeeping duties exclusively last season, tallying 69 saves and nine shutouts to go with a 1.04 goals-against-average.

Series History: CSUN leads Idaho 4-3 in the all-time series, but the Vandals have won the past two meetings. The teams last faced off in 2024 with Idaho claiming a 2-1 decision. CSUN is making its first trip to Moscow, Idaho since 2003 (a CSUN 1-0 victory).

#GoMatadors