The Matadors (6-12-1, 1-6-1) fell to the Rainbow Wahine of Hawaii (8-8-1, 3-4-1) 2-0 in the season finale for CSUN.
Northridge conceded their first goal in the 31st minute to forward Tiana Fujimoto on an assist from Skye Shimabukuro. Opportunities were scarce for the Matadors as they only had two shots in the first half. Rainbow Wahine goalkeeper Monk Berger was challenged once on the game by the only shot on goal for the Matadors by freshman defender Camille Watson.
Coming out of halftime, Hawaii immediately doubled their lead off a goal by Malé Fresquez in the 47th minute off a pass by Ashley Haruki.
The struggles continued for the Matadors in the second half as they were only able to generate two shots, none on goal.
Hawaii’s win snapped a four-game win streak that the Matadors held in their series and handed Northridge their second consecutive loss to end the season.
With the loss, the Matadors finished last in the Big West with four points and only posted one win in conference play against Long Beach State on Oct. 25.
After coming off a 2012 campaign that put CSUN on the map as a soccer powerhouse with an 11-5-6 record and a 6-1-2 record in the Big West, this year’s team struggled out of the gate losing four of their first five games.
The Matadors had some success in the middle of the season against non-conference opponents posting three consecutive wins against Oregon State, Fresno State and Tulsa.
Despite the midseason success, the struggles started for the Matadors when it counted most. As soon as the calendar switched to October and Big West conference play began, CSUN struggled mightily losing four of their first five conference games only scoring a combined two goals across those matches.
The loss to Hawaii also spelled the end of the careers of four seniors on the roster. Most notably, defender and three-time team captain Chloe McDaniel. McDaniel was the 2012 Big West defensive player of the year and also had success off the field as she was also a 2013 Big West Scholar Athlete.
The Matadors will also be without midfielder Amanda Smith next season who finished with 10 career assists which is tied for sixth in school history. Also graduating is team captain and midfielder Haley Chee along with defender Wendy Warner.
Notable players returning next season include sophomore goalkeeper Cynthia Tafoya who finished with an impressive 57 saves on a .720 save percentage.
Also returning next season is the goal-scoring trio of junior forward Brittanie Sakajian, freshman forward Breanna McCallum and sophomore forward Lyndsey Preston.
Sakajian and McCallum each had three goals on the season with McCallum posting a 46.7 shot on goal percentage. Preston appeared in all 19 games this season and scored two goals including a game winner against LMU early in the season.
