The Matador women’s soccer team extended its winning streak, defeating the St. Bonaventure Bonnies 3-1 on Sept. 9, and demolishing the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers 7-1 on Sept. 11, winning the Northern Arizona High Altitude Tournament in Flagstaff.

The two wins this weekend improved the team’s record to 5-1-0, catapulting the Matadors to second place in the Big West Conference, behind defending champion Cal Poly.

With the second best record in their conference, the Matador’s are exceeding expectations by far this season. The annual preseason coach’s poll had the Matador’s picked to finish fifth in the eight-team conference.

“We were disappointed losing in the semifinals last season, but we’ll definitely win the Big West Conference and make it to the NCAA Tournament this year,” said senior captain Brianna Monka.

In the first game of the tournament, the Matadors beat the Bonnies 3-1, for their fourth win of the season.

Junior Leila Pate scored two goals off the bench and junior Sara Davis added another in the victory.

Davis scored the first goal of the game, and her first as a Matador, from a distance of 75 feet, giving the Matadors an early lead at 23:25. Sophomore Suzie Mischenko assisted on the goal.

Pate followed up with an unassisted goal of her own at 35:30 – her first of the season – earning the Matadors a 2-0 lead at the end of the first half.

The second half began with the Matadors firing the first eight shots, but despite their blistering effort, St. Bonaventure’s star player, Heather MacDougall, tapped a shot past keeper April Cline, cutting the Matador lead to one. Cline finished the game allowing one goal and two saves.

Pate ended the game in minute 87 by scoring her second, unassisted goal of the game, lifting the Matadors to a 3-1 final.

The seven goals scored on Sunday are the second highest output in CSUN history as the Matadors roughed up Loyola-Chicago 7-1.

Sophomore Kristy Krohn recorded her first collegiate hat trick by scoring a team high of three goals in Sunday’s victory, including two goals in 36 seconds.

“I’ve never scored two goals that quick,” Krohn said. “I didn’t even know I made both (goals) that fast. It was a great experience and an amazing way to end the tournament.”

Senior Brianna Monka also contributed two goals in the Matadors offensive onslaught.

Monka’s first goal of the game came at 16:37 on a Krohn assist, to put the Matadors on the board 1-0.

Team captain, Suzie Mischenko extended the lead to 2-0 on her first goal of the season, receiving a corner kick from junior Devon Nizich at 22:28.

“The coaches have been focusing on midfielder scoring and corner kicking to help our scoring,” said Monka, the teams leading scorer for each of the last two seasons.

Monka then widened the gap by scoring on an unassisted goal at 56:48, making it 3-0 for the Matadors.

Loyola showed signs of life when Rambler Mary Dale scored on backup goalkeeper, Karen Comstock, cutting the Matador lead to 3-1 – an overall strong defensive outing by the Matadors.

“We’re getting better every game on defense,” said assistant coach Keith West, who coached his first two games of the season this weekend, filling in for head coach Terry Davila, who was in Berkeley coaching the men’s team.

From that point on, Krohn single-handedly ended the Ramblers hopes of a comeback, scoring two goals in 36 seconds. Her first goal of the game, and the season, came at 64:27 off of forward Tessa Binkley’s assist. Krohn then scored again at 65:04 to make it a comfortable 5-1 game off of a pass from midfielder Tryna Tafoya.

The sixth Matador goal came unexpectedly when a cross pass from junior Jessy Borges was knocked in by a Loyola defender. Krohn then completed her hat trick at 84:39 off of an assist by Freshman Kristal Phillips.

On the defensive side of the ball, starting keeper, April Cline, protected a shutout during her 62 minutes on the field. Her replacement, senior Karen Comstock, needed only two saves, allowing one goal the rest of the way.

Krohn and Monka out-shot the Bonnies between the two of them, 7-6.

The game against the Ramblers was the first meeting between the teams in school history, and the first time the Matadors have faced a team from the Horizon League.

“We weren’t expecting an easy victory,” Monka said. “We didn’t know what to expect against them. We didn’t even have a scouting report on them.”

The team does not have games scheduled this week, but will return to action Sept. 19 at San Diego State (5-2-0) at 4:00 p.m.

Shabazz Williams can be reached at shabazz.williams.85 @csun.edu