The CSUN women’s soccer team was 15 minutes away from kicking off their Big West campaign with three points and a win over the defending conference champions in Cal State Fullerton.
Instead, a 74th minute goal from Titans forward Makenna McGill dashed away their hopes of a win as CSUF (2-6-2, 0-0-1) defended Northridge with a 1-1 draw.
CSUN (2-7-1, 0-0-1) went through a rough non-conference stretch, which included an 0-5 record on the road.
However, the Matadors defended their home turf with a 2-2 record at the Matador Soccer Field, carrying momentum into their Big West opener on Sunday night.
Less than ten minutes after the opening touch, CSUN midfielder Yoshi Rubalcava found the back of the net after slipping past the Titans’ back line.
CSUN head coach Gina Brewer said the early score was exciting for the team.
“Scoring early, that’s what we ask of them to do and that was huge for us to get the goal,” Brewer said. “Yoshi is a very smart soccer player, a very technical soccer player, she can be dangerous for us in the attack.”
Rubalcava credited after the game that her team’s effort contributed greatly to the goal.
“I think with the effort of the whole team, we did an excellent job in working together to get that goal,” Rubalcava said.
The Matadors opened the second half aggressively. They pushed the ball up inside the box before Titans’ goalie Mia Ranson got a hand on a low power shot attempt.
Less than two minutes later, Fullerton hit the woodwork and nearly tied it up.
In the second half, the Titans’ forwards increased their work rate, looking to break through CSUN’s defense. Early on, CSUF had the ball; it seemed like they were inside the CSUN final third.
With the intensity turned up, things began to get a bit testy between the two teams. The Matadors incurred two yellow cards as Ashly Torres and Sami Kolin were booked less than ten minutes apart.
CSUF’s Kaylee Noble also received a yellow card as she got into a twist-up with Torres, which resulted in them getting booked in the 61st minute.
The Titans kept pouring on the pressure with a couple of corner kicks coming.
It paid off in the 74th minute after a Noble crossed the ball into the box and found Makenna McGill.
To provide the Matadors with more offensive choices, Brewer decided to switch to an attacking option in Cassidy Imperial-Pham.
In the 85th minute, Kolin put together the best shot attempt in the half for the Matadors, but Ranson saved it. .
A minute later, the referee penalized Titans defender Lauren Turner with a yellow card to stop a CSUN counter-attack.
When it seemed like the game would close quietly, CSUF would earn a corner kick with 20 seconds left on the clock.
Matadors’ goalie Riley Liebsack would get the save to end the game in a draw. She would finish with five saves in the night.
CSUN moves on to a Thursday night matchup on Sept. 26 against Long Beach State as they search for their first Big West win.
