The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

Loading Recent Classifieds...
The Girls Who Code club met together in Sierra Hall, on Friday, Sept. 15, in Northridge, Calif. Club members played around with a program to create a virtual game.
The CSUN club that’s encouraging women in STEM
Miya Hantman, Reporter • September 18, 2023

CSUN’s Girls Who Code club is just one of many across many campuses and countries, including 110 in...

Students form a crowd for DJ Mal-Ski on Friday, Sept. 8, 2023 in Northridge, Calif.
Matador Nights carnival makes a splash at the USU
Ryan Romero, Sports Editor • September 21, 2023

The University Student Union hosted “Matador Nights” on Sept. 8 from 7 p.m. to midnight. The event...

Image courtesy of Adobe Stock by FiledIMAGE.
Women’s Soccer has Closed the Competitive Gap
Luis Silva, Reporter • September 19, 2023

There is no longer a significant competitive gap in the sport of women’s soccer. There is a brighter...

The line for concert merchandise on the second night of The Eras Tour in Paradise, Nev., on Saturday, March 25, 2023.
My experience at The Eras Tour
Miley Alfaro, Sports Reporter • September 18, 2023

It’s been a long time coming. I began watching The Eras Tour, Taylor Swift’s ongoing concert trek,...

Within the Oaxacan town of Asuncion Nochixtlan, we find my mother’s birthplace, Buena Vista. Photo taken July 29, 2023.
I Love Being Mexican
September 12, 2023
A student holds up a sign during a rally outside of the CSU Board of Trustees meeting in Long Beach, Calif., on Sept. 12, 2023.
CSU board approves tuition increase amid protests
Trisha Anas, Editor in Chief • September 15, 2023

The California State Board of Trustees on Wednesday approved a 6% tuition increase for the next five...

group of mena and women touching hands
Miracles In Action Restores Patients’ Lives and Actualizes their Potential

Men’s soccer suffers first Big West loss

The CSUN men’s soccer team out shot and out played Cal Poly on Wednesday, but still walked away from the match with their first conference loss of the season.

The Matadors controlled possession for most of the game, winning the majority of loose balls at midfield and giving numerous scoring opportunities to their strikers. CSUN had 18 shots in the game, compared to seven for the Mustangs. The Matadors also had a 7-1 edge in corner kicks. But the only statistic that mattered in the end was the 1-0 final score in favor of Cal Poly.

“I was extremely disappointed,” said head coach Terry Davila. “It doesn’t matter how many shots we had. You can measure that on the stat sheet, but you can’t measure hustle. They out-hustled us for sure.”

The loss snaps an eight-match unbeaten streak for CSUN, who is 5-4-5 on the season and 3-1-3 in the Big West. Cal Poly improved their record to 7-6-1 and 3-3-1 in conference.

The Matadors had some of their best scoring chances in the first 20 minutes of the first half. In the seventh minute, defender Sean Franklin pushed a pass ahead to midfielder Adrian Lopez, who was wide open inside the box. Lopez fired a shot, but was denied by a brilliant leaping save by Cal Poly goalkeeper Eric Branagan-Franco. Ten minutes later, Franklin had a scoring opportunity after a great through pass by Fergie Agwu. Franklin decided to pass instead of shoot and the Poly defense cleared the ball.

The Mustangs had a few scoring opportunities in the first half, but unlike the Matadors, they took advantage. In the 30th minute, the CSUN defense cleared the ball out from in front of the goal to the top right corner of the box, directly at the feet of midfielder Anton Peterlin, who shot a rocket into the upper-left corner of the net.

A defensive miscommunication by the Mustangs just six minutes later led to a Matador corner kick and a chance to even the score. Midfielder Taylor Canel bended the kick in front of the net and forward Moy Gomez headed it off the crossbar.

“Sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way,” Franklin said. “I think we were just unlucky.”

The crossbar once again stymied the Matadors in the 86th minute, when top-scorer Sunghyun Kim fired a shot from the top of the box that deflected off a Mustang defender and hit the bar.

The Matadors out shot Cal Poly 13-4 in the second half, but couldn’t put the ball in the net. Branagan-Franco was shouting at his team during the final minutes of the game to “hold the ball” and “don’t foul.” The Mustangs followed the orders of their keeper and played keep-away to run out the final minutes of the game.

“We shouldn’t have lost to a team like that,” Franklin said. “We all know we could’ve done better and stuck to the game plan more.”

The loss puts CSUN into a three-way tie for the conference lead with UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine.

The team will travel to Santa Barbara to take on the Gauchos on Oct. 25 at Harder Stadium.

“You can talk about it all you want,” said Davila. “Talk is cheap. We have the next couple of games to see what we’re made of.”

More to Discover