The CSUN women’s soccer team had a say in who goes to the Big West Tournament.
With is own conference tournament hopes out of reach, the Matadors played the role of spoiler in its matchup with the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos on Friday afternoon at Matador Soccer Field.
CSUN played that role quite well, as a goal by senior forward Kristy Krohn in the 15th minute along with stingy defense and solid goalkeeping resulted in a 1-0 win over the Gauchos.
“We just battled and that’s the character of our team,” head coach Keith West said. “We just kept battling and battling to stay in the game.”
The Matadors’ win kept the Gauchos at 10 points and thus sends the UC Irvine Anteaters, who have 13 points on its conference slate, into the Big West Tournament. The Anteaters hold the tiebreaker advantage over the Gauchos on the strength of its 2-1 win over Santa Barbara on Oct. 14.
The Matadors also snapped their six-game losing streak in the series against the Gauchos and at the same time, gained a small measure of payback. Santa Barbara had a hand in knocking the Matadors out of the Big West Tournament the last two seasons and Friday’s game saw the perfect opportunity for CSUN to turn the tables.
“It was our opportunity to (return the favor),” junior defender Nalena Betancourt said. “Our season didn’t go as well as we wanted it to, so we wanted to win these last two games and go out on a good note.”
Krohn’s score came when she tracked down a loose ball and broke for goal. Krohn fired a shot just outside the box, but it was deflected left by Gaucho senior goalkeeper Katie Wright. Krohn, however, tracked down the loose ball and struck the rebound shot past a diving Wright into the right net. “For probably one of the first times all season, the ball bounced our way,” Krohn said.
UC Santa Barbara tried desperately to get the equalizer, attempting 20 shots in the game, 10 in each half and eight of those on goal. The closest the Gauchos came to tying the game came when senior defender Katrina Wright crossed a ball to freshman forward Brooke Salyer, but her header hit the post and was soon cleared away.
Freshman goalkeeper Ivette Esqueda also made sure the Gauchos didn’t find the back of the net, as she saved all eight of the Gauchos’ shots on goal and also took a shot to the stomach to reach a 50-50 ball. Luckily, Esqueda was uninjured.
The Matadors wrapped up their season on Sunday against the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Mustangs. The game marked the final appearances for seniors Krohn, Evy Cedillo, Rachel Gillis, Rilesha Haynie, Shanna Hudson and Susie Mischenko.
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