LOS ANGELES – Alice Santen blasted in a penalty shot in the 89th minute to lead the Lions women's soccer team past the visiting CSUN Matadors 1-0 on Thursday night in front of a raucous crowd at Sullivan Field.
The Lions debuted a different look for the match and it paid off significantly with chance creation.
Kailey Park had the first opportunity of the match coming in the tenth minute. Park took the final pass of some nice link up play on the right side from
Amber McCorkle and blasted a right-footed shot that was saved by the Matador keeper.
Megan Rucker had a pair of shots go off the crossbar. The first came in the 18th minute. After scampering up from her left back position, Rucker tried to chip the goalkeeper at the back post and the ball bounced off the top of the crossbar and back into play. The ball was recycled to her, resulting in a driven shot that bounced off the inside of the crossbar and straight down twice before being cleared. After a lengthy review, the referee decided the ball did not cross the entirety of the goal line.
Madison Werner had an opportunity in the 31st minute.
Kylie Dobbs kept a cross from Rucker alive, with the ball falling to Werner who fired a low shot into the goalkeeper.
Werner had another chance in the 39th minute but blasted the shot over the crossbar.
Alex Hobbs had the first chance of the second half. After a Gabriella Marchal cross was dealt with by the CSUN backline, Hobbs took a chance and volleyed the ball out of play for a goal kick.
The Lions continued to attack, with Jai Smith also firing a shot over the crossbar in the 55th minute. She found herself at the end of a Rucker driven cross and could not put the chance on target.
True freshman goalkeeper JJ Hoover was not called on much but had an impressive save in the 70
th minute to keep the Matadors off the board. With the ball played across the box, CSUN chipped a ball that Hoover punched away before a slew of Lions helped shepherd the ball away.
LMU thought they had the winner in the 83rd minute. Hobbs took the space she was given on the right side and fired a cross that was batted around in the box before falling back to her. She slid the ball to Jenessa Groves who put the ball in the net. The goal was called back because Hobbs was offsides on the return ball.
Groves had another opportunity fall to her in the 87th minute but pushed the ball just wide right.
It was Santen that stepped up to the spot after Hobbs won a penalty just before the clock expired. Santen drove a low shot that the goalkeeper got fingertips on but it was not enough to keep the ball out. It was Santen's fourth goal as a Lion, the most since the beginning of the 2022 season.
The victory is the second over the Matadors in as many years.
The Lions are back in action on Sunday afternoon, playing host to the Cal Poly Mustangs. Kickoff is scheduled for noon. The match will be played at Sullivan Field and streamed on ESPN+.
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