No. 25 seed CSUN hosted the No. 9 seed UC Irvine on Thursday afternoon and found themselves behind a 16-9 loss to the Anteaters. The Irvine win now puts them at a 37-4 all-time record against the Matadors, holding a 16-year winning streak.

From the jump, UCI (12-12 overall, 4-2 conference) showed a strong presence and controlled the ball. Their stacked defense paired with a quick offense allowed them to lead the entire game.

CSUN (17-6 overall, 2-2 conference) head coach Matt Warshaw said he tried to prepare his team for the tough matchup but thinks the difference in experience between the two teams was a difficult factor.

“We’re asking a lot of freshmen and sophomores to do a lot,” Warshaw said. “If you look at the box score, I think the Irvine contributions really came from seniors and juniors, and we’re just up against it right now with our youth, but I was proud of their fight. I thought they fought ‘till the end. You know, we’re making good strides, but that’s a real good Irvine team.”

The Matadors attempted a few shots but were not able to capitalize on them until utility player Sophia Martinez scored CSUN’s first goal with the help of teammate Sophia Cooper.

With new energy, the Matadors scored first in the second quarter. However, they still trailed the Anteaters 5-2.

CSUN’s defense in this quarter looked as if it settled in a bit, but UCI’s defense remained superior led by Anteater goalkeeper Ella Walker with 10 saves. The Anteaters made .533% of their goals while the Matadors only made .310% of theirs.

Martinez spoke on seeing her team make an adjustment defense wise.

“I would say, first quarter we definitely weren’t ready for their outside shooting and stuff and I think, after the second quarter, we definitely adjusted more and we were hitting faster,” Martinez said. “We pretty much shut them down for a little bit on their six on five.”

The Anteaters still led the Matadors at the half, but the margin was close with a score of 7-3.

CSUN found themselves an inch closer after attacker Mira Dravucz scored a goal on a penalty shot, but the Anteaters continued to widen the gap by scoring three consecutive goals.

Though the Matadors never led in this game, Martinez said she was motivated to continue battling against a talented UCI team.

“I would definitely say I didn’t want to get my butt kicked. I didn’t want the score for us to be down by 10, like I knew we could keep up with this team for sure,” Martinez said.

By the start of the fourth quarter, CSUN was down by seven goals. The Matadors chances of a comeback slowly faded away as they only scored two goals, while the Anteaters saw their biggest lead of the game come from this quarter.

When the final buzzer rang, CSUN found themselves behind their first loss in seven games.

CSUN looks to play its second top 10 team as they host Long Beach State (No. 10) on Saturday, March 28, at noon for their Senior Day and last home game of the season.