Sanchez Makes History, CSUN Advances to Big West Tournament Final

NORTHRIDGE, CA---Behind Cynthia Sanchez's record-breaking night, CSUN Women's Soccer defeated UC Riverside 3-0 in the Big West Tournament semifinals on Thursday evening at Matador Soccer Field to advance to the championship match on Sunday. Sanchez scored her 22nd and 23rd career goals to become CSUN's all-time career goal leader, while Lindsay Kutscher added an insurance goal for the Matadors in the victory. Jovani McCaskill made two saves in between the posts for her 29th career shutout.

The Matadors will host Cal State Fullerton in the tournament finals on Sunday at 1 p.m. with an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament on the line.

"Our young ladies battled hard tonight," said head coach Keith West. "It was a pretty good offensive output tonight with three goals. I've been saying all year to our team, if you make plays you're going to get the win, so we made some plays tonight and I was very proud of them."

The Matadors recorded a season-high 22 shots in the match (11 on goal) while allowing the Highlanders to seven shots with three on goal. CSUN also earned nine corner kicks compared to UC Riverside's four.

From the outset, the Matadors attacked UC Riverside's side of the field in an effort to gain the early advantage. Marissa Favela took the Matadors' first shot of the match in the fifth minute, hitting the post from the left of the box. Sylvia Trinh would later put a shot on goal followed by another shot from Favela that goalkeeper Alanna Guzman stopped in front of the net. After missed shots from Sanchez and Christina Nixon, Trinh took a shot on the break from the left side but Guzman made a clean save to keep the match scoreless.

CSUN held the Highlanders to five shots in the first half with two on goal. McCaskill made her lone save early on in the period and the Matador defense collected a team save later in the half at the 34:34 mark.

After intermission, the Matadors finally broke through with the game's first goal in the 57th minute. Off a throw-in from Destinney Duron, Sanchez collected the pass and drove through the left side of the field. The Highlander defense briefly broke up Sanchez's run before the senior rebounded and finished at the left post. Sanchez's strike not only gave the Matadors the lead but tied her with Farryn Townley (2006-10) for the most goals scored in team history.

Unsatisfied with a one-goal lead, the Matadors continued their attack throughout the second half. After shots on goal from Sanchez, Kutscher and Bret Guarino, the Matadors doubled their lead following another throw-in from Duron. In the 80th minute, Kutscher completed an overhead kick and struck the back of the net.

Just over five minutes later, Sanchez lit up the scoreboard once more with a drive from the right side. Taking the ball deep into the box, Sanchez finished at the right post past a moving Guzman to give CSUN a 3-0 lead. Her 23rd career goal moved her ahead of Townley and into sole possession of first place in the CSUN record books.

"Coming into the pitch, I wasn't thinking about breaking the record," said Sanchez. "I was just trying to think about what I needed to do to get that game-winning goal to help my team. I'm humbled by all of the support that I've had throughout the season and the five years that I've been here. It's a really, really good day."

The Highlanders were limited to two shots in the second half as McCaskill collected a save in the 72nd minute.

Defenders Amanda Martin, Katelyn Von Meter, Nixon and Kutscher and midfielder Kirsten Von Meter played the full 90 minutes on Thursday.

The Matadors' Big West Championship appearance on Sunday will be their second in program history and their first since 2012 when CSUN won the tournament. Sunday's final will be televised on Fox Sports West. A spanish audio broadcast will be available on the CSUN Sports Network presented by Dignity Health with Eduard Cauich and Jose Avalos on the call.

Sanchez Makes History, CSUN Advances to Big West Tournament Final

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Team Stats

Cynthia Sanchez

Lindsay Kutscher

Destinney Duron

Sylvia Trinh

Players Mentioned

Destinney Duron

Marissa Favela

Bret Guarino

Lindsay Kutscher

Amanda Martin

Jovani McCaskill

Christina Nixon

Cynthia Sanchez

Sylvia Trinh

Katelyn Von Meter

Kirsten Von Meter