With a record of 1-0-3, the Matadors are on a nice streak to begin their year, as they are unbeaten in their first four games coming off a win and a draw against UCLA and University of San Diego this past weekend.
CSUN began their season with two draws against Ohio State University and University of Dayton in August, and carried that momentum onto their road trip down Southern California as they visited Torero Stadium to take on San Diego, who were ranked 12th in the country based on the Division I United States Coaches Poll.
The game against the San Diego Toreros didn’t go without cautions, ejections and tension, as referee Ivan De Cristofaro dished out seven yellow cards combined throughout the match. In the 63rd minute, Martin Palinic was handed a red card and ejected from the game, which led to CSUN playing a man down for the last 26 minutes.
Being a man down didn’t prove to be an issue for CSUN, as they left Torero Stadium with the victory thanks to two goals in rapid succession. The first was an 80th-minute goal by Levin Gerhardt; five minutes later, an 85th-minute goal by Jamar Ricketts sealed the deal for the Matadors, as they won 3-1.
“It says a lot about our mental toughness and our belief in one another,” head coach Terry Davila said of their win over San Diego.
Ricketts and Bryan Bustamante were both named Big West Players of the Week, Ricketts being the offensive player and Bustamante being the defensive player. Ricketts in particular had a phenomenal weekend for the Matadors. He recorded two goals, one against University of Dayton and the other against San Diego. He added two assists at San Diego as well.
After playing spoiler for San Diego’s home opener on Friday, CSUN took on UCLA at Wallis Annenberg Stadium on Labor Day. It remained deadlocked for most of the game, with CSUN finding themselves on the defensive end for the majority of the match. The Bruins took 18 shots with seven on goal, compared to the Matadors’ eight shots with three shots on goal.
Cooper Wenzel was solid in front of the net, as he had six saves throughout the game, only allowing one goal in the 83rd minute by UCLA’s Jack Sarkos. But just four minutes later, in the 87th minute, Jorge Solorzano would go up for a penalty kick due to a foul by UCLA’s Sam Joseph, where Solorzano blasted the ball into the back of the net for the equalizer as the game would finish a draw at 1-1.
“We want to play good games and good teams. We don’t want to duck anyone; we want to be challenged and ready for Big West play,” Davila said when talking about the strength of the Matadors’ preseason.
With momentum carrying them during this early part of the season, it will be exciting to see if the Matadors can continue this streak and pick up more positive results before Big West play rolls around.
