Following their loss to Gonzaga last week, the Lobo soccer team finished their first homestand of the season with a 3-2 win over the California State University, Northridge Matadors on Sunday, Aug. 30.
The Lobos began the game aggressively on offense, taking early shots that were saved by Matador goalkeeper Haydin Mauldin, but Mauldin’s equally aggressive goalkeeping would come back to bite her as she was found guilty of a foul on Lobo forward Nicole Anderson in the 18-yard box. Anderson promptly drilled the ball to the top center of the net on the ensuing penalty kick to give the Lobos the early lead in the 8th minute.
“Nicole has been so diligent this last week — any time she’s in the box, she’s finishing. Everything is on frame,” Head Coach Karley Nelson said after the game.
The Lobo attack continued as a wild sequence in the 17th minute saw Anderson hit the ball off the left post and midfielder Alysa Whelchel miss off the bar, with midfielder Celina Frenz finally finding the back of the net — and her first career goal — with a header on the vacant right side of the goal.
“I was just hoping to get in the box and the ball just came to my head – just a surreal moment,” Frenz said.
This was not the end of the Lobo’s early barrage; Nicole Anderson tacked on to the Lobo lead and her own impressive day, finding the back of the net yet again, this time beating two defenders and taking advantage of a beautiful pass from Whelchel in the 28th minute to extend the lead to 3-0, giving Anderson a brace.
“I was really disappointed with my performance last Sunday, so I came in just eager to score and I think that’s what drove me to keep trying and trying,” Anderson said
The Matadors would not be shut out in the first half though. After a series of missed shots off the crossbar, CSUN forward Yasmin Azar found forward, Jordyn Cannister on a corner kick and Cannister notched her first goal of the season to make it 3-1 in the 44th minute, just before halftime.
The second half did not turn down the aggression. Two different Matadors — midfielder Alena Ramirez and defender Harper Curnutt — would pick up yellow cards, but the end-to-end play in early stages of the half did not lead to any goals.
However, it was the overly aggressive play of Lobo defender Angelina Moschetti that would end up costing the Lobos a goal: Moschetti was responsible for a foul in the 18-yard box, leading to a penalty kick from Matador midfielder Ariana Lopez-Angel that was perfectly placed past Lobo goalkeeper Alyson Campbell to bring the Matadors within a goal at 3-2 in the 67th minute.
The Matadors nearly took a potential game tying penalty kick after Lobo defender Morgan Juran fouled Matador forward Jana Akins in the box, but further video review determined the play was offside and no penalty was taken by the Matadors.
Fortunately for the Lobos, the Matadors were unable to find an equalizer as their corner kick in the final seconds proved fruitless, leading to the Lobos winning the game 3-2.
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“This is great practice for us — we will face a lot of teams who want to make things chaotic,” Nelson said.
The Lobos will now be on the road for three straight games, with their next up north against University of Colorado Boulder on Thursday, Sept. 3.
“I’m always excited to play against really good competition…it can be nerve-wracking, but I think it’s really exciting to see how our team does against such an amazing team,” Anderson said.
Marley Herndon is a beat reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on X @Dailylobo
