CSUN men’s soccer took on the Aggies of UC Davis Wednesday night at home. The match included two squads who were winless in conference play hungry for that first win. The emotions were high on both sides from start to finish. Ultimately, neither left with a victory as the teams tied in an ultimate dog fight.
In the 28th minute the Aggies struck first. After a strong defensive start from the Matadors the defense made one huge miscue, the ball ricocheted off a Matador defender back into the box where sophomore midfielder Declan Horio took full advantage and scorched the ball into the back of the net putting the Aggies out in front.
Just seven minutes later the Matadors would get called for a controversial yellow card in the defensive box by sophomore midfielder Zack Harris. The crowd and Matadors sideline were in clear disbelief by the call. This call led to a penalty kick for the Aggies as they had an opportunity to really make things hard for the Matadors to comeback.
Junior forward Cason Goodman who came into the match being the Aggies leading scorer added onto his total for the season as he’s up to six on the year.
Sophomore goalkeeper Merrick Cook guessed right but with Goodman’s strong leg it was not a quick enough reaction making the deficit now two goals for the Matadors.
The Matadors seemingly in disbelief by what just took place in such a small amount of time. But, the confidence never wavered.
As the game was heading towards halftime CSUN had one of their best opportunities of the half in the 43rd minute to get on the board.
A free kick was granted from about 20-25 yards out senior forward Marley Edwards who came in as a substitution struck the ball that somehow managed to sneak by just about every Aggies defender and past the diving arms of the goalkeeper into the bottom left corner of the net giving the team a much needed spark heading into the half.
Fast forward into the second half it was now the Matadors with all the momentum being able to attack constantly on the offensive end.
It soon paid off as with key passes around the pitch, Harris made up for his early miscue with a perfect chip pass to sophomore midfielder Jorge Solorzano with one touch of the ball he was able to put it into the top of the right corner tying the game for the Matadors (2-4-5, 0-1-2) with plenty of time to now get that first victory.
“We knew it was going to be a dog fight, but I’m very happy with the kids and how they responded. Even when we got down two goals I still thought the game was ours, and we fought our asses off,” said CSUN head coach Terry Davila. “You know at one point they were a top 25 team so they’re a hell of a ball club.”
Prior to the game tying goal there was yet another controversial non-call much to the dismay of fans and the Matadors. As the ball was chipped into the box a Matador player seemed to have been tackled from behind, and what looked like a foul was ultimately not called, costing the Matadors a potential goal.
“You can’t make the referees for both teams, you know we had a crucial call go against us, and we didn’t get one when we thought we could have gotten it,” said Davila.
The minutes winded down and with both teams missing several opportunities late, it truly came down to the final 40 seconds with the Matadors on the run they got their final chance of the game.
As the announcer counted down over the PA system from 10 seconds CSUN had a golden opportunity to score at the buzzer. The ball was chipped into midfielder Michael Blevins just feet away using his right foot he struck a perfect ball but it wasn’t destiny, as Aggies goalkeeper Mekhai Wilson made a great save punching the ball out and the buzzer going off at the same time ending the game effectively immediately.
Multiple Matadors dropped to the floor, while the Aggie players had a sense of relief being able to hold on for the tie.
There was no love lost in this matchup as there was a lot of back and forth banter between the two teams within the first 20 minutes of the match as there were multiple minor scuffles to start.
Aggies midfielder Zack Lillington was the early target being in the center of these scuffles putting a target on his back.
The match contained seven yellow cards with one of them coming from Davila himself. The two teams combined for a staggering 49 fouls on the night showing that both sideto stop any side from getting offensive momentum.
CSUN will look to collect themselves and grab that precious first win in conference play. The Matadors hit the road to face the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners (4-2-4, 1–0-2) on Oct. 12 at 7pm.
We have to take it one game at a time, we have to get a certain amount of points to get into the Big West playoffs and every point counts. So, the bottom line is we have to fight for every single point,” said Davila.
