After picking up their first victory ever against the University of San Diego, the CSUN women’s soccer team now turns its attention to Big West Conference play as they host UC Davis (5-3-1) on Friday night.
The Matadors (5-5) triumphed over the Toreros (5-4-2) in a 1-0 victory from a penalty kick by senior midfielder Erin Kelly.
Now the Matadors face the Aggies, a team they defeated at home in a 1-0 overtime last season. This season the Aggies may present more of a challenge for the Matadors.
UC Davis has won four of its last five games this season and are split 2-2 on the road this season.
The Aggies are not deterred easily, they defeated Fresno State 3-2 in a comeback win from being down 2-0 early in the first half of play.
Also against Sacramento State the team defended 10 shots and striked early in the first half to take a 1-0 victory.
Sophomore forward Kelly Allison scored the lone goal for the Aggies in the game against Sacramento State and she is definitely a true go-getter for the team. This season she has recorded 33 shots, 16 on goal and five goals to give her 10 points on the season.
Allison’s partner in crime is senior midfielder Samantha Faber. On the team she trails Allison with 32 shots, 12 on goal and three goals to give her seven points.
Coach West and the Matadors give credit to UC Davis for being a good team but admit they have faced better this season.
“UC Davis is a good team but Portland, UCLA and Texas A&M are really good,” West said. “Our conference is really good and UC Davis is definitely going to be a challenge for us. Every game in conference is going to be tough for us.”
The Matadors look to remain focused and protect their home turf. The team is 3-2 at home and will be adamant about making that record 4-2.
With five wins and five loses the Matadors are not treading away from their competition. The team has faced a tough pre-season schedule and coach West believes the team has looked courageous so far.
“I think our overall performance has been pretty good,” West said. “We’ve given up some soft goals at times against some good teams but for the most part we’ve done pretty well. We have been pretty consistent in what we have been doing and I’m proud of the girls and excited about our chances this year in conference.”
As for the team the women are excited to begin Big West Conference play and Warner said the women have been intent on practice.
“We have been working really hard and we keep getting better every single game and our coaches and the team is very supportive.” Warner said.
Barbara is also excited about the start of conference and said the entire team is ready for it and the team should come out with a win.
“They (UC Davis) are a really good team, them and Pacific so we have a lot coming to us,” Barbara said. “We just need to not worry about the games in the past and just worry about what we have in front of us and we just have to come prepared because we cant lose at home.”
