After starting the season with two consecutive losses to West Coast Conference opponents, the Matadors will look to get their first win of the season when they travel to Fullerton to compete in the Cal State Fullerton Tournament starting Friday.
CSUN will open the tournament with a matchup against Washington on Friday and close with a game against San Jose State on Sunday.
The Cal State Fullerton Tournament will be a welcomed challenge by the Matadors, who hope that their struggles to start the season are behind them.
“We can’t focus on the past because we have to remember there is nothing we can do about it,” assistant coach Peter Bomar said. “We’re focused on our next game against Washington.”
The Matadors have yet to find team chemistry on the field, especially on defense.
“We’re still trying to find what works on defense early in the season,” Bomar said. “There is no need to worry. We will get better as things start to click.”
The Matadors first opponent will be the Huskies, who had five players receive All-Pac-10 honors last year and is off to a 1-1-0 overall record. However, Washington is projected to finish last in the Pac-10 preseason coaches’ poll.
The Huskies opened up the 2010 season in the Nike Portland Invitational with a 2-1 loss against Evansville. The game was pretty much even throughout the entire match until the last few minutes when Mike Luttrull knocked in a goal in the 88 minute for the win. The Huskies finished with 12 shots during that game and one goal from freshman John Crenshaw.
The Huskies first victory of the season came in a 1-0 win against Northern Illinois in their second game of the Nike Portland Invitational. The only goal of the matchup came in an unconventional way, as forward Brent Richards scored off a throw-in in the 73rd minute. Rules state that a player can score off a throw-in only if it ricochets off a defender first on its way to the net. That’s exactly what happened, as the ball went off Northern Illinois goalie Jordan Godsey. Both teams finished the game with 11 shots, as freshman goalie Spencer Richey recorded his first career shutout for the Huskies.
The Huskies are led offensively by Richards, who earned All-Second Team Pac-10 honors last year and leads the team in points with 4 shots and 1 goal. The Matadors have not played Washington since 1993, when the Huskies attained a 1-0 win.
Northridge will conclude the Cal State Fullerton Tournament with San Jose State, who was projected to finish fifth by the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation preseason coaches’ poll. San Jose State started the 2010 season with two consecutive wins at home, a 2-1 win against UC Riverside and a dominating 4-0 performance against Cal State Monterrey.
The only loss of the season for the Spartans came in a 1-0 road loss against UC Davis, who is projected to finish sixth in the Big West. The game was tied at the end of regulation, however, Lance Patterson of the Aggies provided the game-winning goal in overtime during the 97th minute. The Spartans were dominated in the shot department, as they were outshot 20-7.
The Spartans return eight starters from last years team and are lead offensively this year by senior midfielder Joe Boemecke, who already has seven shots and three goals this season. The last time the Matadors played against San Jose State, CSUN shut out the Spartans in a 5-0 win in 2003.
