After practicing all summer and preparing for their home opener, the CSUN Men’s Soccer team was anxious to get back onto the pitch. Looking to improve on last year’s 6-6-6 record, the Matadors are going into this season with something to prove in a 5-1 win in their home opener against The Master’s University.
The match hadn’t even gotten to the fifth minute before CSUN forward Kayvon Monfared had scored the first of many goals of the game.
“It felt great, you know, always nice to score in front of the home fans, they really showed out tonight,” said Monfared.
Not even a minute later the offensive spectacle continued as CSUN defender Tito Oyewo scored off of a corner kick setup from CSUN forward Sebastian Fuentes putting the matadors at a 2-0 lead early into the match.
A grand majority of the match was played on the Mustangs side of the pitch as they struggled to get the ball rolling both offensively and defensively. Toward the end of the 20th minute, the Mustangs had a chance to score off a free kick. However, they kicked it too high and the Matadors recovered it.
Shortly after, the Matadors found themselves right back onto the Mustangs half of the field. After a failed free kick attempt by the Matadors, Monfared was once again putting points on the board scoring his second goal of the game and leaving the score at 3-0.
“Our coaches gave us the right game plan and I wouldn’t be able to score any of those goals without my teammates,” said Monfared
Towards the end of the half the Mustangs pressed back onto the Matadors half of the field but were unable to come up with a score before the break.
In the second half, the Matadors accidentally scored an own goal due to some ball fighting at the goal putting the score at 3-1.
This was quickly recovered by the Matadors as CSUN Defender Messiah Antwi scored in the 72nd minute and CSUN Midfielder Michael Blevins closed the game out with a goal of his own ending the game at 5-1
Monfared reflected after the game about the Matadors upcoming schedule and what that means to him.
“This was a huge team win, we gotta keep the momentum going …I’m excited for conference,” said Monfared.
The Matadors will play against Oral Roberts University on Sunday, Aug. 30, at 7 p.m. at Matador Soccer Field. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
