CSUN begins Big West Conference South Division men’s soccer play this week with matches against Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine.

The Matadors travel Wednesday to Cal State Fullerton where CSUN faces the Titans at 7 p.m. Coverage from Fullerton can be found on the schedule page on GoMatadors.com.

Cal State Fullerton begins the week with a Sough Division leading six points. The Titans are 7-5-1 overall, 2-2 in Big West play. Ross McPhie is tied for third in the conference in goals scored with CSUN’s Emmanuel Usen Jr. (6). McPhie’s 15 points are tied with UC Irvine’s Ivan Canales for the second most in the Big West.

Cal State Fullerton has used two goalies throughout the season. Paul-Andre Guerin is 4-4 with 22 saves while Alfredo Cortez is 3-1-1 and has made 17 saves. Cortez has allowed seven goals, the fewest among any goalie in the Big West so far, this season.

This is the 46th meeting between the two clubs with CSUN leading the all-time series 23-17-5. The Matadors went 1-0-1 against the Titans last season. The teams played to a 1-1 tie in Fullerton before CSUN defeated Cal State Fullerton 2-1 in double overtime in Northridge. The Matadors host the Titans Oct. 25 in the final home match of the season for CSUN.

Former CSUN assistant and player Yossi Raz has led UC Irvine to a 6-4-3 record in his first season at the UCI helm. The Anteaters are 1-1-2 in league play for a total of five points. Saturday’s match will begin at 7 p.m. and is Bring Your Own Parent Night. It is free admission for CSUN students and their parents with a CSUN student ID.

Mario Ortiz was named Big West Offensive Player of the Week Oct. 9. Ortiz played a role in three of the four Anteater goals as UCI registered a 3-1 victory over Cal Poly and grinded out a 1-1 tie with South Division leader UC Santa Barbara. He took seven shots over the two contests, three of which were on goal.

Canales and Giovanni Godoy are tied for the conference lead in goals scored with seven. Godoy has added two assists for a league leading 16 points.

UCI goalie Alex Waldron is 5-3-3. He sits in second in the Big West with a 1.11 goals against average. His. 750 save percentage is the third best in the league while his 39 saves are the fifth most in the conference.

This is the 50th meeting between the two clubs with CSUN leading the all-time series 22-21-6. The teams split a pair of matches a year ago. UCI defeated CSUN 4-3 in Irvine before the Matadors handed the Anteaters a 3-1 defeat in Northridge. CSUN heads to Irvine next Saturday night for a 7 p.m. start.

After dropping a 1-0 double overtime decision to UC Santa Barbara Oct. 5 in Northridge, Emmanuel Usen Jr.’s header off a Julio Rubio corner kick with 7:58 to go in the second half sent CSUN past Cal Poly 1-0 Oct. 7.

After a scoreless first half, the Matadors pressed on offense, recording five corner kicks in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Cal Poly goalie Simon Boehme made saves on a pair of headers by Samuel Dadzie and Usen Jr. to keep CSUN at bay.

The middle portion of the second half was played primarily in the center of the field. CSUN mounted several offensive chances which resulted in four corners from the 72nd minute to the 82nd minute. On the fifth corner opportunity, the left-footed Rubio sent the ball into the box where Usen Jr. was able to put the ball away for his sixth goal of the season.

CSUN recorded 15 shots, eight of which were on goal, compared to only four for the Mustangs (one on goal). The Matadors charted a total of 10 corner kicks in the second (none for Cal Poly) on the way to a 14-1 advantage in the category for the match. Boehme tallied seven saves for the Mustangs. Usen Jr. posted a career high seven shots to pace the Matadors. CSUN goalie Henrik Regitnig earned his second shutout of the season, making one save on the lone Cal Poly shot on goal.

Usen Jr’s goal was his fourth game winning goal of the season. Usen’s total ranks him third in Division I this season in the category. Regitnig begins the week third in Division I in minutes played in goal with 1187:38.