CSUN men’s soccer was defeated in a back-and-forth shootout by CSU Bakersfield 4-3 at home on Wednesday night in their first conference game since 2019. Dating back to 1979, CSUN has never lost to CSUB in 27 games.

The Roadrunners got off to a fast start as midfielder Ricardo Soza gave a through ball to forward Rene Cortez for their first score of the night. The ball was hit just out of reach of CSUN’s goalkeeper David Preys’ hands, into the right post and in.

The Matadors answered back with their own goal by defender Michael Arrington eight minutes into the match. Arrington controlled the ball off of his chest 10 yards outside of the penalty box and volleyed it into the top right corner of the net.

In the eleventh minute of the match, the Matadors capitalized off another opportunity as midfielder Giovanni Aguilar put in another goal 10 yards out of the penalty box and into the bottom left of the net to take a 2-1 lead.

With 15 minutes left in the first half, the Roadrunners tied the score as defender Eric Whelan headed in a goal off of a corner kick assist from midfielder Niklas Roessler. The first half would end at two a piece after an exchange of offensive prowess.

Early pressure from the Matadors in the second half resulted in the third lead change of the match with a goal from midfielder Arturo Reveles. Reveles scored off of the left post to give CSUN a 3-2 lead. CSUN’s forward Jamar Ricketts would continue to apply pressure on the Roadrunners but could not capitalize.

With 17 minutes left in the match, CSUB tied it 3-3 as midfielder Michael Vogel put it into the bottom left of the net.

The back-and-forth battle would be decided by a CSUB goal that came in the 78th minute by forward Aodhán O’Hara with an assist from Vogel. The shot was deflected off of a Matador defender and went over Preys’ head to take a 4-3 lead.

The Roadrunners only allowed one shot in the last 12 minutes of the match. CSUN’s top goal scorer, Aguilar, was issued a red card with two minutes remaining. In the end, the Matadors were unable to get the results they wanted in their conference opener.

“We are disappointed in the result last night,” head coach Terry Davila said. “We thought we should have won the game but we had too many mental lapses which prevented us from winning the game.”

Matadors look to get their first Big West win as they go on the road to face Cal Poly on Sunday.