The women’s soccer team (8-4-3 overall, 2-1 Big West) kicked off their conference home opener match up with a win against the Cal Poly Mustangs 2-0 on Thursday, recording their third win of the season at Matador Soccer Field.
The Matadors, who were coming off a two-game conference road trip where they split matches losing to Hawaii 2-1 and bouncing back against UC Riverside 3-1, were able to come out with a win at home. With the win, the Matadors secured their 200th all-time win in the 25-year history of the program.
CSUN was outshot by Cal Poly 12-8 during the game, but held a slight advantage in the shot on goal category at 4-3. The Matadors held the advantage in corner kicks over the Mustangs 6-4 throughout the game and with 16 total fouls called, the Matadors were called for 14 in the match. Cal Poly controlled possession for the majority of the game with 52% and CSUN controlled 40% of their possession on the pitch in the center midfield.
The two goals for the Matadors both came in the first half and were the deciding factors of the game to secure the win over the Mustangs. Junior midfielder Gabriella Hinojosa and freshman forward Cindy Arteaga both recorded their first career goals for CSUN.
The first goal for the Matadors came early on in the third minute of play with a shot from junior forward Bethany Fitzsimmons that was initially saved by Mustang goalkeeper Sophia Brown, but Hinojosa was there to clear up the deflection for a goal.
The second goal came in the 26th minute on a free kick from the right side that was sent in by senior defender Amanda Martin and freshman defender Cora Willcot secured the ball and passed it to Arteaga, who would put the ball in the back of the net to secure a 2-0 lead. Fitzsimmons recorded her second assist of the season, leading all Matadors, while Willcot recorded her first career assist.
“It was long overdue but I was able to focus and we spent the whole week working on this in practice, so I knew how to get one,” said Arteaga on getting her first career goal and if her goal relieves some pressure off of her moving forward. “Yes but no. As a forward, I knew I needed to get one but I’m still so young and have so much time ahead of me.”
Head Coach Keith West was happy for his players to record their first career goals and that getting the lead early on was important for the team.
“It was big time getting the goals early on in the match,” West said. “Especially for Cindy Arteaga and Gabriella Hinojosa. They both have been doing pretty well and I was happy to see them get their first goals.”
Sophomore goalkeeper Amanda Delgado recorded three saves for her fourth shutout of the season and the seventh shutout of the year for the Matadors. Delgado is leading the way for CSUN with a total of 41 saves, 11 goals allowed, four shutouts and a 5-4-3 record in her 12 matches in goal.
The Mustangs had some early opportunities to score in the game with the wind being a factor all night. The wind was carrying some of their shots towards Delgado as she was able to make some important saves for the Matadors.
“I thought early on the wind was a big time factor. They got four or five chances with that wind carrying the ball,” West said. “Delgado came up big for us tonight in the first 15 to 20 minutes, she made some pretty big acrobatic saves for us.”
Coming off a two-game road trip, West was worried if the Matadors were going to be rested coming into the match up against the Mustangs.
“I thought we did really well tonight with that trip going to Hawaii and coming back. I was scared about our legs being a little tired, but I thought we had a great energy tonight,” West said. “We had fresh legs and ran well tonight and we scored tonight and it is always easier when we score.”
The Matadors have two games left on their homestand in the upcoming weeks and are looking to add to their hot start to conference play next week.
“We have some games where we are up and down but I know we have what it takes to stay consistent and being able to bring it to every game.” Arteaga said on what the team can improve going forward into their next match up.
The Matadors will continue their three-game homestand in a match up against the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (6-3-3, 2-0), who are currently on a three game winning streak, on Oct. 17 at Matador Soccer Field at 7 p.m.
