After nearly securing three points in a 1-1 draw against Cal State Fullerton in their Big West opener, followed by 1-0 road victory over Long Beach State, the CSUN women’s soccer team is hopeful for the remainder of their conference campaign.
To stand a chance against Hawaii, they will need to start aggressively on offense as they did against CSUF and LBSU. CSUN midfielder Yoshi Rubalcava stunned the Titans less than 10 minutes into the match. She repeated the feat against the Beach, securing the Matadors three full points.
This level of aggressiveness is something the Matadors will need to sustain. CSUN head coach Gina Brewer emphasizes the importance of an aggressive start.
“Scoring early, that’s what we ask them to do and it’s huge for us to get an early goal,” Brewer said.
Rubalcava has been on fire since the start of Big West play contributing two goals and an assist in three games.
“Yoshi’s a very smart soccer player, a very technical player. She can be really dangerous for us in the attack, both scoring goals and creating assists,” Brewer said. “We’re proud of Yoshi for the goals she’s scored lately and we’re gonna continue to want to see more of those moving forward,” she added.
In the last past 10 matches, the Matadors have found success offensively, only getting shut out three times. A significant improvement from last year where CSUN scored in only seven games over the course of the season.
Although the Matadors haven’t been the best offensive team in the conference, they still find ways to win. With three wins already this season, the Matadors need one more win in their remaining seven matches to surpass their highest win total since 2019, when they won 12 games.
The Matadors were able to shut out Long Beach State in an impressive match where Matadors goalkeeper Riley Liebsack came down with five saves as the Beach let it rain with 13 shots and five of them being on goal. Offensively, the Matadors struggled to get much going, they had only six shot attempts with only one being on goal. That shot was the game winner by Rubalcava.
When they get their opportunity, Brewer’s squad capitalizes.
As of Sept. 29, the Matadors sit in fourth place in the Big West. However, their final stretch will be challenging, with matches against Cal Poly, UC Santa Barbara, Cal State Bakersfield, and UC Davis. All teams ranked in the top half of the Big West for goals scored.
If the Matadors hope to finish in the top six and qualify for the Big West Women’s Soccer Championships, they will likely need to win at least two of these matches.
The team has demonstrated the resilience and coaching needing to make a postseason run. Time will tell if they can continue their strong form.
