Men's Student-Athlete of the Week: Michael Abalos, Soccer

Senior goalkeeper Michael Abalos came up big for the Matadors defensively this week, helping the Matadors go 2-0 on a notoriously difficult road trip to Cal Poly and No. 4 UC Santa Barbara. Northridge had not earned points on the road against both the Mustangs and Gauchos since 2005 (one
win, one tie) and had never defeated UC Santa Barbara at Harder Stadium in Big West play. In fact, the win for CSUN at UCSB was the program's first since 1999.

On Friday at Cal Poly, Abalos made three saves in goal to earn a shutout after Northridge scored a goal in the first minute of play. Then on Sunday Abalos recorded four saves against the Gauchos, including one on a header in the 86th minute to preserve the clean sheet.

Abalos now has five shutouts this season to lead the Big West. For his career, Abalos has 24 wins and 19 shutouts to rank fourth and second all-time in Northridge history, respectively.