In what started as a close Big West matchup between CSUN and UC Santa Barbara, the Matadors took control of the game in the fourth quarter and added a 12-6 win to their record books. CSUN earned its fifth consecutive win while UCSB marked its 14th loss in a row.
CSUN head coach Matt Warshaw collected his 133rd career win after surpassing the previous record and becoming the program leader on Mar. 5. He said he’s been pretty lucky to be surrounded by a lot of good athletes and assistant coaches.
Although the Gauchos got a hold of the ball first, CSUN (16-5 overall, 2-1 conference) wasted no time as Big West Player of the Week Mira Dravcz scored the first goal, 22 seconds into the game. UCSB (1-16 overall, 0-5 conference) returned the favor with a goal of their own just before halfway through the period.
The teams evened the score a couple of times, but CSUN ultimately led 4-2 heading into the second quarter.
Matador’s defense was on point, making up for their lack of offense and missed shots. CSUN made 40% of their shots, which was a little more than double that of UCSB’s 19%.
The majority of this quarter involved the two teams attempting shots but coming up short until utility player Cami Mras scored for the Gauchos with 1:04 to go. They trailed the Matadors 4-3 after the half.
This was one of the lower-scoring games for the Matadors this season, until they turned it up later in the game.
Warshaw noted that his team struggled at the beginning of this game, but acknowledged that it was a conference matchup, which can hold a lot on the line for some teams. He said he thinks his team settled in nicely during the second half of the game.
“Definitely got better as we went. We had a little shaky second quarter, but I was proud of how they rallied after some adversity and put together a real strong defensive second half,” Warshaw said.
CSUN goalkeeper Erika Staine agreed with the fact that her team’s offense was off to a rough start, but thinks her team worked well together to adjust.
The Matadors got back to scoring within the first minute of the third quarter. They scored three goals before allowing the Gauchos to get on the board again. CSUN gained a 9-5 lead over UCSB heading into the final quarter.
The Matadors reached double digits after scoring first in the quarter again. They tallied another three goals before closing out the game with a 12-6 win.
Staine said she wasn’t anticipating a close matchup with the Gauchos.
“I didn’t expect it to be a close game; I expected us to win by a lot,” Staine said. “The beginning did scare me a little bit because of how close it was.”
CSUN will take on USC in an exhibition game on Tuesday, March 17, at 9 p.m. in Manoa, Hawai’i, at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex.
