2014 Schedule (PDF)
All dates and times subject to change
FULLERTON, Calif. – First-year head men's soccer coach George Kuntz announced, Thursday, a challenging slate for his debut season at Cal State Fullerton, which includes five teams that competed in the last season's NCAA Tournament.
"This is an incredible time for Titan men's soccer," said Kuntz. The team has responded to my challenge and accepted the responsibility and opportunity that presents itself with our 2014 season."
Cal State Fullerton's 2014 schedule features 19 regular season matches, highlighted by an eight-game home slate at Titan Stadium.
"Our non-conference schedule is challenging and will prepare us for the always competitive Big West schedules, which features some of the best competition in the country."
The season kicks off on Aug. 29, as the Titans travel to Chicago to face the University of Illinois at Chicago before squaring off against the University of San Diego on Sept. 1 in San Diego, Calif.
Last season, UIC was the Horizon League Regular season champions before falling to Milwaukee in the conference championship. The flames finished the season ranked at No. 38 in the RPI rankings and this will be the first meeting between the two programs. The Titans and Toreros will square off for the 26th time as USD leads the all-time series 10-11-4 after defeating Fullerton 3-2 in double overtime last season.
The Titans will then welcome the University of San Francisco for their home opener on Friday, Sept. 5 at 7 p.m. The home opener will also be a homecoming for newly appointed San Francisco head coach and former Cal State Fullerton All-American Eddie Soto.
During his time at Fullerton, Soto was a two-time All-American selection (1992 and '93) and ranks as the No. 2 scorer in Titans history totaling 96 points and 38 goals. He also still holds the school's single season record for goals in a season with 18, set in 1994. Soto also was an assistant coach from 2001-03 at Fullerton.
After hosting USF, Fullerton will travel to Santa Barbara, Calif., to face Northwestern and then will head to Las Vegas to compete in the UNLV Nike Invitational versus UMBC and Detroit.
University of Maryland Baltimore County looks to improve on a very successful season (16-1-3) from a year ago, as the Retrievers advanced to the NCAA Second Round before falling to the Connecticut Huskies in a penalty shootout. At the UNLV Nike Invitational, the two schools will meet for the very first time.
Fullerton will play five of its first six seven contests away from Titan Stadium.
The Titans open Big West play on Thursday, Oct. 2 at UC Davis, while their home conference opener will take place the following week, Thursday, Oct. 9, when they take on UC Santa Barbara at Titan Stadium. The conference home opener will be also played as a double-header with the Titan women, who also face Long Beach State earlier in the day.
The Titans wrap up the regular season at Titan Stadium when they take on UC Riverside on Nov. 5 at 7 p.m.
"Our Big West conference schedule will be competitive as ever as the conference has taken college soccer to a new lebel. These will be great games for local supporters in Orange County as well as for college soccer in general."
The Big West Tournament begins with the first round on Saturday, Nov. 8 and continues with the semifinals and championship on Wednesday, Nov. 12 and Saturday, Nov. 15, respectively.
The Titans placed fourth in the Big West South last year at 6-11-1 overall and 3-6-1 in conference play, and bring back multiple starters from that squad. That includes Big West honorable mention selection, Ian Ramos, a two-time all-conference selection.
For continued coverage of Fullerton Titans men's soccer, follow the team on Twitter @CSUFMensSoccer or visit FullertonTitans.
Notes: The final RPI for 2013 opponents includes: UMBC No. 8, UC Irvine No. 15, UC Santa Barbara No. 17, UIC No. 37, Northwestern No. 39, and Santa Clara No. 47.