In its final road game of the regular season, it looked like it was the Northridge’s first game ever.
The Matadors (7-8-2, 2-3-1) were blanked 5-0 by the 49ers (11-4-3, 5-0-1) Sunday afternoon in Long Beach. 49er senior Hayley Bolt scored three goals for her first-career hat trick.
It was Long Beach’s 10th shutout this season. The Matadors have now been held scoreless six times this season, including four times in their last six games. The loss also marked their largest margin of defeat in 2008.
‘Long Beach State is really tough,’ said Assistant Coach Juan Plascencia. ‘We knew it wasn’t going to be easy.’
It didn’t take long for the 49ers to jump ahead in the game. Less than two minutes had gone by when Bolt received a corner kick from fellow senior Kim Silos and headed it past Matador goalkeeper Leah Elliot. It was a record-setting play as Silos is now Long Beach State’s all-time assist leader with 27.
Six minutes later, Bolt and the 49ers were back at it. This time, she headed in a pass from freshman Nicole Hubbard to double the Long Beach lead. Only two shots had been taken thus far in the contest, and both were Bolt goals.
Things began to settle down for the Matadors a little bit at this point. The 49ers attempted to score again, but Elliot made three saves on shots by three different Long Beach players to keep the deficit at two. Matador senior Kristal Phillips looked to cut into thea lead but her blast in the 19th minute sailed wide.
Long Beach State scored its third goal of the first half in the 34th minute when sophomore Lindsay Bullock got a head on a corner kick from freshman Shawna Gordon and put it through the goal. It was Bullock’s ninth goal this year.
Through the rest of the first half, Northridge prevented the 49ers from getting any more clean looks at the net. The Matadors had a few opportunities to get on the board before intermission, but Long Beach keeper Liz Ramos made a save on a chance by Farryn Townley, and attempts by Nancy Avesyan and Michelle Moore were blocked just seconds before time expired in the first period.
The second half started much like the first, as Bolt completed the hat trick just a couple of minutes into it with yet another header, this time coming from senior Dana Farquhar.
The game was essentially over already, as the players on the pitch now just looked to play out the rest of it.
The books would be closed in the 62nd minute with the fifth and final goal was put in by sophomore Kristin Kiefer on a one-on-one play off of a pass from Cat Gray.
The 49ers took a total of eight corner kicks, and converted goals on three of them. The Matadors didn’t attempt a corner all game. Northridge was out shot 25-10 in the contest, and was only able to register three shots on goal.
The five goals allowed were the most by Elliot this season, passing her previous high of three. She made seven saves in the match, taking her season total to 104, which is the second highest total for a Matador in a single season.
The loss prevented Northridge from picking up any ground in the Big West Conference, but it still stands in good shape heading home for the final two games of the season.
‘We have to win, it’s that simple,’ said Plascencia. ‘Especially at home, we have to take care of business.’
The Matadors will host UC Riverside Thursday and Cal State Fullerton Sunday. CSUN is unbeaten at home this season.
