The road woes continue for CSUN.
The Matadors (5-7-1, 0-2-0 Big West) lost their sixth straight road game and fourth overall when they fell 1-0 to the Cal Poly Mustangs (8-6-0, 3-0-0) Sunday afternoon.
Cal Poly sophomore Monica Hemenez scored the lone goal with just five seconds left in regulation. It was the second time in three games that the Matadors were defeated by a goal in the final minute of play.
‘We had the clearance on the play,’ said Matador Assistant Coach Juan Plascencia. ‘But they were able to serve it to the back line and put it in the net.’
The Mustangs dominated play throughout the entire contest, as they had a sizable time of possession advantage. Right off the bat, they forced CSUN goalkeeper Leah Elliot to make a save in the first minute of action, and that trend would continue for the duration of the contest.
In the 17th minute, Elliot was forced to make a leaping save on a shot by Morgan Miller, last week’s Big West Conference Player of the Week. Miller would pressure the net all day, taking a game-high six shots, with five of them coming on goal.
Northridge then had three chances to get on the board with shots by freshmen Nancy Avesyan and Katie Coulas, and sophomore Katie Fox in a 10-minute span. Mustang goalkeeper Coral Hoover made the save on one while the other two traveled wide.
The game went into halftime scoreless, but not before one final push by Cal Poly. After a corner kick in the 40th minute, the ball squirted loose and looked to be heading into the net, but Elliot was able to dive on top of it to preserve the tie.
It was the fourth straight game that Northridge was held scoreless in the first half, as their offense continues to have trouble finding the back of the net.
‘We’re not getting numbers in the box,’ said Plascencia. ‘We’re playing thinner up front and that’s something we need to work on and improve on.’
The pace of the game was controlled by the Mustangs to begin the second half as the first 15 minutes of play took place almost exclusively on their offensive end of the pitch.
Elliot was extremely busy throughout the second half due to this, and she handled everything that Cal Poly sent her direction. In the 55th minute she made a leaping save on a blast by Hemenez from 30 yards out. Five minutes later, she made a diving one off another shot.
The Mustangs best second-half opportunity came in the 60th minute. They took three straight corner kicks, getting strong scoring chances off all of them. However, they were unable to break through.
After that, the Matadors had their chances to take the lead. Avesyan had a clear look at the net in the 63rd minute but shot it too high. Junior Kelley Ross and sophomore Farryn Townley had back-to-back chances in the 76th minute, but Hoover made the save on both.
In the 83rd minute, Northridge would have its final look at the goal, but Hoover made the save yet again. She ended the game with four saves.
The Mustangs had three quick looks in the final two minutes of play, but they couldn’t get the ball past Elliot until Hemenez connected in the final five seconds. The ball was cleared out, but Cal Poly was able to get the ball back into the box. Hemenez and Elliot raced to the loose ball and Hemenez was able to get her foot on it and flip it past Elliot and into the net. ‘ Whitney Sisler and Meggie O’Hagen were credited with assists on the score.
Cal Poly finished the game with a 22-9 shot advantage, and an 8-3 spread on corner kicks.
Elliot finished the game with a career-high 14 saves, two behind the leader on the Matador all-time list for a single game.
‘Leah had a very solid game,’ said Plascencia, who coaches the goalkeepers. ‘They put lots of pressure on her and she came up big for us.’
Mustang Tiffany Gummow was shown the game’s only yellow card in the 70th minute. Northridge will return home this weekend to continue Big West play and look to get back to their winning ways that they saw to start the season. They are undefeated at home this year.
The Matadors host UC Davis and Pacific on Friday and Sunday respectively.
