California State University Women’s Soccer opened team practices on Tuesday in preparation for the upcoming 2023 fall season.

“I think this group is hungry,” said head coach Christine Johnson who enters her second official season as head coach. “To see that they’ve put in the work they needed to do in the offseason, and they come out here on day one and follow fitness and perform inter-squad with zero coaching was really exciting. There were some really good things today, and obviously, some things we need to work on but overall I’m really happy with our starting point.”

The Matadors are looking to improve on the building blocks established last season. After fielding a roster with 17 freshmen last season, the Matadors will bring back 18 letterwinners along with 14 players that have two or more years of experience in college.

CSUN looks to replace All-Big West First Team selection Cindy Arteaga who graduated last spring. Last season, Arteaga scored a team-high nine goals and finished off her career tied for eighth all-time in school history in goals with 12. Arteaga recently signed to play professional soccer in Mexico with Club Universidad Nacional Femenil.

Graduate forward Ashley Cruz is the team’s top returning point scorer with six last season including two goals and two assists. After battling back from injuries earlier in her career, Cruz returns for her seventh season with CSUN in 2023. Over her career, she has appeared in 48 matches, registering four goals and four assists.

“I’m excited about my last season. I feel like I have a lot to give to this team and I’m going to go all out this season,” said Cruz. “We have a lot of newcomers and I’m excited to see what they are going to add to the team. Everyone had high energy and came ready today.”

Other top returners this year include graduate defender Kacie Garrity, who has appeared in the most career games among active players with 58 to go with nine career points. Graduate defensive midfielder Brooke Mobeck also returns after missing the latter portion of last season with injury while forward Cassidy Imperial-Pham looks to build on a freshman season where she posted five points.

CSUN’s netminder Hayden Mauldin returns as well after starting 11 matches and earning All-Big West Freshman Team honors last season.

Other returners include defenders Ashly Torres, Angelica Claiborne, Sami Alarcon, Erin Anderson, Samantha Healy and Sami Kolin, midfielders Izabel Reyes, Yoshi Rubalcava and Jackie Victorio and forwards Harlee Martin-Ditillo, Cailey Jackson, Cami Alarcon and Brooklin Woolf. Midfielder Anessa Campos and forward Leah Reese are also back after missing last season with injury.

Among the 15 newcomers on the roster, 10 are true freshmen, which include forwards Braedyn Kincade (Clovis North HS), Daisy Torres (Buchanan HS) and Jordyn Canister (South HS), midfielders Talia Agbayani (Aiea HS) and Priyanka Pottekkat (Corvuss American Academy in India), defenders Fruzsina Mislai (Csanadi Arpad Sports School in Hungary), Ruby Kimble (Santiago HS), Pauline Gericke (FC Union Berlin) and Savannah Estrada (Mater Dei HS) and goalkeeper Natalie Navarro (Birmingham Charter HS).

Additionally, CSUN adds three Division I transfers to the mix in goalkeeper Riley Liebsack (UNLV), forward Sunny Bowlin-Stacy (Alabama State) and midfielder Paige Califf (Pitt). Rounding out the new faces are midfielder Kaylee Gutierrez (St. San Antonio College) and goalkeeper Kennedy Williams (Sonoma State).

The Matadors open exhibition play with a home matchup against California Baptist on Tuesday, Aug. 8 at 7 p.m. The 2023 season officially opens on Aug. 17 with CSUN taking on Portland at Matador Soccer Field.