The Matadors season concluded this past Saturday in a draw with Cal State Fullerton on the road. Notice that score as the Matadors were all too familiar with draws all year long.
CSUN finished with seven draws this season which was tied for most in the Big West conference along with Cal State Fullerton, and Cal Poly. The outlier in that was that the Matadors didn’t net a single win in conference play.
The season was off to a promising start as the squad drew even with No. 18 James Madison and went on the road three days later and upset No. 11 Loyola Marymount. It was a tough non-conference start and the Matadors rose to the challenge.
Soon after their upset win the Matadors went on a four game winless streak until Sept. 22, when they defeated Santa Clara, 2-1. The win marked the last time the Matadors would get a taste of victory the rest of the season.
The Matadors finished with an overall record of 2-8-7 and a conference record of 0-5-4, and had four points total, giving them a last place finish in the Big West. The last time CSUN finished in last place was 2014.
In fact, the Matadors have not finished in first place since 2016, where they ended up winning the conference tournament that same year. Ever since that great year the Matadors have reached the conference tournament just four times over the span of eight years, never getting past the semifinals.
CSUN head coach Terry Davila began his 26th overall year as head coach for the Matadors in 2024. Davila has taken the Matadors to the highest of highs and seemingly the lowest of lows.
Last year CSUN finished in second to last place in the Big West, so the last two seasons have not been up to par with what Davila has provided in past years for the soccer program.
The big question is what was the major factor that led to a poor season?
It seemingly seemed to be the offense all season long and poor play defensively towards the end of matches.
CSUN lost several games or tied games due to either falling behind early and having to play catch up or let up a last minute goal after having a bend but don’t break defensive mentality.
CSUN finished with 19 goals on the season, coming in second to last just in front of Cal Poly and UC Riverside who each had 18. The Matadors allowed 29 goals, which in fact was middle of the pack in the conference, but it was the lack of capitalizing off opportunities that hurt CSUN the most.
The team finished second in the conference in corner opportunities with 102 just behind CSUF who had 122. If just a couple more of those corners get converted into goals, this is a much different turnout of a season for the Matadors. An interesting bit of information is that the Matadors finished with the worst save rate in the conference, a very telling story.
With just two wins in conference play and six wins overall the last two seasons changes have to come fast for the Matadors if they want to return to any sort of relevancy.
Seven seniors were on the roster this year but the team has plenty of juniors and sophomores that will step in next year. It’ll be a very experienced team for what is certainly shaping up to be a make or break year for the Matadors.
A pair of sophomores, defender Deryk Jones Jr. and midfielder Michael Blevins, tied for most goals on the team with four. Both players figure to be big pieces moving forward, if they stay in Northridge.
Although the season did not go as anyone expected it to go for the Matadors, it can only be up from here as the offseason starts now and the team will look to bring in either transfers or incoming freshmen that can bring instant impact.
