Early Penalty Lifts Spartans Over Matadors, 1-0

Thursday, September 17

Northridge, Calif

7:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

3-3-1, 0-0-0

San José State

3-3-1, 0-0-0

Team	1	2	Final F
San Jose St.	1	0	1
CSUN	0	0	0

Photo by: Chuck Marvel

Early Penalty Lifts Spartans Over Matadors, 1-0

9/17/2026 11:11:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. --- CSUN men's soccer (3-3-1) dropped a 1-0 decision to the San José State Spartans Thursday night at Matador Soccer Field. The Matadors dominated the shots in the shots department, 23-8, but were unable to find the back of the net in the defeat. Fernando Duarte scored the game's lone goal in the fifth minute.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Duarte converted a penalty kick at the 4:27 mark to give the Spartans an early lead. After a free kick, a handball by the Matadors in their own box gave the Spartans an early opportunity. Duarte found the right side of the net past a diving Dorian Drucks to make it 1-0.

CSUN had several opportunities to equalize in the opening half. Justin Sosa, Adrian Jones, Sebastian Fuentes and Messiah Antwi each recorded shots during the first 20 minutes but were unsuccessful in their attempts.

The Matadors controlled much of the attacking play throughout the match. To go along with their 23-8 advantage in shots, they had a 15-2 edge in the second half alone. CSUN also earned six corner kicks compared with three for San José State.

Pineda and Damien Baltierra forced saves from San José State goalkeeper Ronin Axelson in the opening minutes of the second half while Dave-Ryan Tankou and Jones also tested the Spartans' defense. CSUN had its chances, proving that the offense didn't let the deficit get in the way of its strategy.

The game ended up being very chippy on both sides. CSUN received a red card in the 63rd minute (63:15) when Dominik Wicks was shown a straight red, leaving the Matadors down a player.

CSUN was only down a man for a little over 16 minutes, as SJSU's Tortell Daly followed with a red of his own at the 79:09 mark. Both teams played with 10 men in the final 11 minutes. There were nine yellow cards assessed between the two teams and 25 fouls total.

Fuentes had two late opportunities in the 82nd minute, but both attempts were saved by Axelson. Sosa then had a shot blocked in the 86th minute before Kayvon Monfared sent a final attempt high in the 89th minute. Dorian Drucks finished with four saves for the Matadors while Axelson recorded eight saves for San José State.

NOTES OF THE GAME

This is the first defeat for CSUN at home this season.
The Matadors held a 61%-39% advantage in possession
Fuentes, Sosa, Tankou, and Jones all had three shots.
Daniel Garcia and Tito Oyewo played all 90 minutes.
SJSU improves to 3-3-1 on the season, winning its first game on the road

ACCORDING TO HEAD COACH TERRY DAVILA
"We had our chances, we took 23 shots. We just couldn't find the back of the goal. We didn't score, that's the story of the game. At the start of the game, we were a little bit defensive and unorganized. They got a little rhythm, and we weren't as organized offensively as well as I like. So we've got to get better. Overall, this is a good group. They're good listeners and they're hard workers. I like the way the team's going. It's hard to win in this sport. Obviously, it's a game of inches, and we didn't produce. Hopefully, we'll have a good bounce-back game and get ourselves in a good rhythm before the week starts."

UP NEXT
CSUN returns home Sunday to play Grand Canyon at 7:00 p.m. at Matador Soccer Field. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Ghizal Hasan and Gio Galvez on the call.