The Matadors (6-9-2, 2-5-1 Big West) couldn’t bring their hot scoring form into Wednesday night’s match against the UC Riverside Highlanders (4-9-3, 3-3-2 Big West), losing 1-0 in overtime at the UCR Soccer Stadium.

A golden goal just 16 seconds into extra-time sent CSUN home dead last in the Big West South Division, needing a win on Saturday to keep their Big West Tournament qualification hopes alive. Both sides showed off their defensive prowess, with junior goalkeeper Adam Hobbs sharing the same number of saves with his UC Riverside counterpart at 12.

The Highlanders started off strong with a shot within five seconds of the match, while CSUN’s first shot came in the 18th minute thanks to senior forward Edwin Rivas. Senior forward Sagi Lev-Ari and sophomore midfielder Carlos Gonzalez added to the shot tally a few minutes later, but the Matadors still trailed the Highlanders 11-5 in shot counts by halftime.

The Matadors came out to the second half battling for the go-ahead goal, with an early strike from sophomore midfielder Nicolas Camacho, before Lev-Ari struck toward goal again moments later.

Hobbs was called upon again in the 72nd minute, making two back-to-back saves to keep the game scoreless, and eventually pushing it to extra-time. Hobbs’s heroics weren’t enough to keep the Highlanders out of the net in overtime, and the Matadors succumbed to their second extra-time loss of the season.

The Matadors aren’t entirely out of the Big West Tournament yet, as they are just three points behind Cal State Fullerton, who lost to UC Irvine in the other South Division matchup. With two matches left, CSUN will need to pull together and win their last games to make it through.

CSUN will host UC Irvine Saturday night as the Matadors look to give a proper send off for five players on Senior Night.