PEORIA, Ill. -

With a header in the 89th minute, junior defender Tanner Snedigar scored his first career goal to lift the No. 6 Cal State Northridge Matadors (8-1-0) to a 1-0 victory against the Bradley Braves (4-3-1) on Saturday night at Shea Stadium. The Matadors picked up their eighth victory over a non-conference opponent this season, setting a new program record at the NCAA Division I level.

Snedigar, making his first start for Cal State Northridge this season, sent a header past Bradley goalkeeper Brian Billings with 62 seconds remaining to lead the Matadors to a hard-fought win. After entering the second half as a substitute in the 78th minute, Snegidar's freshness helped him pick out the cross from forward Beto Velasquez at the near-side post. Yarden Azulay was also credited with an assist for finding Velasquez in space prior to the cross.

The match looked to be fairly even in the first half with Bradley owning the edge in shots 10-9. The Matadors took more corner kicks in the first 45 minutes (6-4) and also had four shots turned away by Billings compared to one necessary save from Adam Hobbs in the CSUN net.

A quick sequence early in the match nearly led to the first goal for Northridge but Billings was up to the challenge. In the 15th minute, Edwin Rivas' shot was saved for a corner and less than a minute later Mynor Giron was stopped on his attempt at goal.

The Braves had their best opportunity to break the deadlock in the 67th minute and would've scored were it not for the skill of Hobbs. A shot by Tyler Davis was deflected to Grant Bell in the box, who had a one-on-one opportunity against Hobbs but the goalkeeper stood his ground and made one of his four saves on the night.

He made another save with just under seven minutes remaining in the match and a shot by Bell a few minutes later went high of the goal. With time running out the Matadors sent attacking players forward, leading to the decisive goal by Snedigar.

In net, Hobbs recorded his first official shutout of the season and has factored into every match for the Matadors. It is also the first shutout since a 3-0 win over Albany on the first day of the season.

Cal State Northridge will return to action on Friday, Oct. 4, in the team's Big West Conference opener at Sacramento State. Kickoff from Hornet Field is scheduled for 4 p.m.

---

RECOMMENDED FOR YOU

Men's NCAA Tournament First Round Recap

Men's NCAA Tournament Round Two Preview

TeamRank Presented By TeamSnap - Boys