It took 90 hard fought minutes, but the CSUN women’s soccer team managed to gain a point against the No. 2 team atop the Big West conference table in UC Santa Barbara.
The Matadors (4-10-3, 2-3-3) pulled out a nil-nil draw against the UCSB Gauchos (6-3-8, 4-0-4) at the Matador Soccer Field on senior night.
CSUN goalkeeper Riley Liebsack had five saves, including four in the second half as she kept the Matadors in the thick of it all game long.
“I felt great, I felt that my confidence was high because I saw how hard my whole team was working,” Liebsack said with a smile. “Seeing how hard they were working on the field, it made me want to work harder too.”
The Matadors’ defense was tasked with stopping UCSB’s Devin Greer, the Big West conference third-highest goalscorer. They held Greer to only one shot on goal in 68 minutes of play as they stifled a potent Gaucho offense.
Brewer said the defensive gameplan begins with her redshirt junior goalkeeper.
“Riley (Liebsack) has been fantastic for us all year long. She’s grown as the year has gone in regards to her improvement,” she admitted.
It was a slow start in the first half for the Matadors. They had no shots recorded amid another rough night for the CSUN offense. They only managed to get three shots off in the second half, with none of them being on target. Brewer wasn’t afraid to say where the team falls short
“In the attacking third of the field we have to do a little bit of a better job in being more creative and dangerous with multiple different movements and runs. That’s something we’re still working on.” she said.
“We’ve improved in a lot of aspects, but I would say that’s one of the more difficult aspects to improve so it takes time,” Brewer added. (We’re) happy with our progress and what we’re doing, but still obviously lots of room to get better and keep improving.”
It was a full 90 minute effort from the Matadors’ defensive third as defenders Angelica Claiborne, Paige Califf, and Sami Kolin as the Gauchos offense got off three of their 11 shots in the first half.
“We knew that it was going to be a tough defensive battle against them (UCSB). We had to bring it for 90 minutes and not have any let downs,” Brewer said. “I’m proud of the team, I think they worked extremely hard.”
The second half saw the Matadors offense show more signs of life coming out the half. Defensive midfielder Ashly Torres had a nice shot from her right foot that nearly had enough curve but gave UCSB’s goalie Maddie Buckley a scare in the 77th minute.
Liebsack credited the defense to help keep the shutout in the second half.
“I think they played great, they fought hard and made all the runs to get back,” she noted. “They sacrificed their body and did everything they could. This shutout was because of them.”
With the draw, the Matadors keep themselves in contention for a spot in the Big West Women’s Soccer Championships at the end of the season. CSUN currently sits in the eighth in the table, two spots out of a spot in the postseason tournament.
The Matadors will travel to Cal State Bakersfield on Thursday, before wrapping up their regular season at UC Davis on Oct. 31.
“It’s obviously gonna be tough, Bakersfield has been playing really good…ending at UC Davis is obviously another really hard game. We’re so proud of the progress our team has made this season and the fight and the hunger to just give everything they got. We think we can do it…we’re just looking to go in and be competitive and still try and get into that top six and make the Big West conference tournament,” Brewer finished with.
