A home game under the lights was not enough for CSUN as the women’s soccer team fell to the University of Pennsylvania, 1-0, Friday night at Matador Field.
The Quakers upheld a strong defensive stance that ultimately stopped the Matadors two-game winning streak.
Defender Kaitlin Campbell of the Quakers (3-2) scored the game-winning goal shortly after the 20th minute in the first half. Campbell headed the ball in from eight yards out off a free kick by midfielder Sarah Friedman.
Early in the game, the Matadors (4-4) received a couple of good chances to score but none of the players could connect with the net. Both defender Brielle Slepicoff and forward Farryn Townley had quality shots on goal but were deterred by Quaker goalkepper Caroline Williams, she recorded five saves.
CSUN midfielder Sonia Espita took one shot in the game that was deflected by the Quakers. She thought a combination of good defense from the Quakers and bad luck played a part in the Matadors loss tonight.
“I think the defense (Penn) was doing their best,” Espita said. “We were getting up for headers and unfortunately it went their way, it’s just unlucky.”
Statistically the teams were not much different from one another. The Matadors kicked 11 shots with six on goal compared to the Quakers 10 shots with four on goal. CSUN did outshine Penn with six corner kicks in comparison with a mere two for the Quakers.
Head Coach Keith West felt that his team’s overall performance was decent and says that the team just botched on a couple of good opportunities.
“We were okay tonight,” West said. “We did some good things in the first half. They were good (Penn), they were a solid team tonight. We just didn’t execute the opportunities that we got in time.”
In the second half both teams played strong defense, which limited many goal-scoring opportunities at the net.
“We have to fix some screws in the middle and just basically all around, I think were fine, we just had a little bump in the road but I think we will get back in it come Sunday,” said Espita.
