Starting off a six game road trip, the CSUN men’s soccer team began on the wrong foot, as it fell 2-0 at Loyola Marymount in a physical matchup on Sunday.

 CSUN’s was faced with their first obstacle of the season that includes overcoming questions about their mental toughness on the road. Last year the Matadors underperformed on the road with only three road wins

“Playing at Loyola Marymount is definitely one of the toughest battles when it comes to mental toughness,” assistant coach Peter Bomar said. “Traditionally the WCC (West Coast Conference) is a very physical league and games tend to be physical.”

 CSUN was off to a good start with several good looks in the first half, but after a goal by Lions Artur Jozkowicz with 10 minutes to go in the first half, the Matadors were not able to get into the game.

 “After the first goal we were a little indecisive about playing our game,” Bomar said.

 The second half was dominated by Loyola Marymount as the Matadors continued to search for their first goal of the season.

 The Lions accumulated 14 shots in the second half, led by midfielder Rafael Baca  and David Ponce who had 5 shots a piece throughout the game.

 The second goal For LMU came in the 33rd minute of the second half when Phil Da Silva headed in a ball, which bounced off the hands of CSUN goalie Joe Scachetti.

CSUN has been outscored 4-0 in its first two regular season games. The Matadors next game is against Washington on Friday, in the Cal State Fullerton Tournament

Game notes: The matchup against LMU had a total of 32 fouls whistled, including yellow cards on forward Mathias Bonhevi, midfielder Thomas Ramos and defender Jake Troy for Northridge. The only player for LMU with a yellow card was forward Jonas Retier.