Weekly Release (PDF)
THIS WEEK
Titan Stadium welcomes back Big West Conference action Wednesday as the Cal State Fullerton men's soccer team hosts South Division rival CSUN at 7:00 p.m. The Titans will then hit the road for a contest with another Big West South Division opponent, UCR, at 7 pm on Saturday at UC Riverside Soccer Stadium.
QUICK HITS
• Cal State Fullerton head coach George Kuntz is in his first year with the Titans after spending 19 years at UC Irvine.
• In Cal State Fullerton's first win of the year, and its first win of the George Kuntz era at CSF, the Titans staged a 4-3 come-from-behind double overtime victory over then 14th-ranked Maryland, Baltimore County.
• Fullerton has totaled 23 goals this season, matching last season's total, coming from 10 different players as Spencer Johnson added his name to the list with his goal against Pacific on Oct. 13.
• UC Santa Barbara came into a Big West showdown against Fullerton on Oct. 9 with a 12-game conference undefeated streak, but was shut out by the Titans, 2-0.
• CSUN picked up its first conference win of the 2014 season last Saturday in the match up against UC Riverside, moving both teams to 1-3-1 in Big West play heading into the contests with Fullerton this week.
HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION
Cal State Fullerton fans can follow the action as the Titans take on the Matadors, Wednesday at 7 p.m., and UC Riverside, Saturday at 7:00 p.m., by logging on to FullertonTitans.com
OPPONENT & HISTORY
CSUN | 7:00 PM
Wednesday, Oct. 22 | Titan Stadium
The Matadors look to close the gap in the standings between them and the Titans on Wednesday night in a Big West South Division showdown.
After being picked to top the Big West South Division pre-season, CSUN earned its first conference win last Saturday night, taking down UC Riverside by the score of 2-1. The win for the Matadors was their first after six consecutive losses, and they also managed to break a scoring drought of 241 consecutive minutes.
Sagi Lev-Ari is the man to watch on the Matadors' roster, as he has a Big West-leading eight goals on the season.
Head-to-Head: The Matadors have the edge in the all-time series against Cal State Fullerton, as the Titans hold a 14-20-2 record against the Matadors.
Last Time Out: Chris Smith drilled a goal off a rebounded attempt in the 29th minute and No. 20 Cal State Northridge held on to win, 1-0, in the final regular-season home match for Cal State Fullerton, on Nov. 6, 2013 at Titan Stadium.
Live Stats.......FullertonTitans.com
Live Video......FullertonTitans.com
Live Audio.....FullertonTitans.com
UC Riverside | 7:00 PM
Saturday, Oct. 25 | UC Riverside Soccer Stadium
The Titans will visit UC Riverside Soccer Stadium on Saturday for the second game in a three-game home stand for the Highlanders. UCR will try to turn around a slow start to conference play with the three games at home this week, and attempt to close the gap on Big West South Division leaders UC Irvine and second place Cal State Fullerton.
The Highlander's 2-1 loss to CSUN last Saturday dropped UC Riverside to the bottom of the Big West South Division.
Michael Salazar leads the way for UCR with four goals on the season.
Head-to-Head: The Titans are out in front of the Highlanders in this all-time series record, holding a 15-10-4 edge.
Last Time Out: Alex Cannas and Ian Ramos scored goals in the early minutes of each half, but it wasn't enough as UC Riverside scored three goals in the final 40 minutes to snatch the victory away from the Titans, on Nov. 9, 2013 in Riverside, Calif.
Live Stats.......FullertonTitans.com
BE A FOLLOWER
Fans can keep up with the latest in Titans athletics by following us on Facebook (CSUF.Athletics) and Twitter (@FullertonTitans). In addition, the men's soccer team has established its own Facebook and Twitter presence at Facebook.com/CSUFMensSoccer or at @CSUFMensSoccer.
HOME VS AWAY
In the all-time series between Cal State Fullerton and CSUN neither team, home or away, seem to have an edge. Fullerton's record at Titan Stadium against the Matadors is 7-10-2, while the record at Matador Soccer Field stands at 7-10-0.
NOT SHY ABOUT SHOTS
With the 1-0 loss last Saturday at UC Irvine, the Titans snapped their streak of 12 consecutive games of out shooting their opponent, as the Anteaters outshot the Titans 13-9. The streak started on Sept. 1, with a double overtime draw against San Diego. This was only the second time the Titans have been outshot by an opponent this season, the first coming on Aug. 29 at Ill.-Chicago, 13-12, in a 3-2 loss at Flames Field.
ROLE REVERSAL
The 2014 season has not gone as the Big West experts had foreseen. CSUN was picked to top the South Division in the preseason poll, but is currently tied with UC Riverside for last place with 4 points. Fullerton, who was picked to finish last, currently has six points, two points ahead of CSUN and UC Riverside in the standings. With five games left to play, there is plenty of moving left to do.
DEFENSE DEFENSE DEFENSE
The Titans have now shut out six of their 15 opponents on the year, leading the Big West in that category. Keepers David Rodriguez Elias and Jeff Salt have shared the workload in those games, Salt earning four shutouts and Rodriguez Elias netting two.
WEARING OUT THE CORNER
Cal State Fullerton prides itself on a possession oriented attacking style that leads to not only a lot of assists, but corner kicks as well. The Titans must be doing something right because they lead all Big West Conference teams in corner kicks on the season, earning a total of 92. The closest team to Fullerton in the Big West is UC Irvine with 80.
PREVIOUS BUFFALO WILD WINGS STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK:
Sept. 22 - Sophomore defender Mitchell Bell scored the first goal of his Titan career leading Cal State Fullerton to a 1-0 shutout over Grand Canyon on Sept. 28. Bell's header, courtesy of a Robert Coronado cross, proved to be the game-winner in just the third minute as the defender went on to limit the Lopes to just three shots on goal.
Sept. 15 - Senior Garrett Losee scored two goals for the Titans during the Sept. 19 and 21 weekend home stand against Santa Clara and Nebraska-Omaha, both goals became game-winners. He still leads the team in goals (3) through eleven games.
Sept. 8 - Senior forward Marc Fenelus was the first Titan in any sport to earn the award. Fenelus scored two goals at the UNLV Nike Invitational, Sept. 12-14, including the game winner in Sunday's 4-3 upset of 14th-ranked UMBC, to earn the first Buffalo Wild Wings of Brea Student-Athlete of the Week honors.
ON THE BOARD EARLY
Mitchell Bell's goal in the third minute of play Sunday, Sept. 28 against Grand Canyon not only ended up being the game-winner, but Bell's goal is the earliest goal the Titans have scored all season.
COMING ON STRONG
After starting the 2014-2015 season with a disappointing 0-3-2 record, the Titans have come on recently to win 7-of-10 games to push their overall record to 7-5-2, 2-3-0 in Big West play. This puts Fullerton in second place in the Big West South Division, four points behind last week's opponent UC Irvine.
STATS
• Cal State Fullerton leads the league in corner kicks (92), total shots (226) and shutouts (6).
• Cal State Fullerton moved into second in the Big West Conference with 22 total assists (1.47 per game) and the Titans are second in the league with 222 fouls (14.8 per game).
PRESEASON PREDICTIONS
Cal State Fullerton senior Ian Ramos was selected to the Big West Preseason All-Conference Team as chosen by the league's coaches, it was announced on Aug. 21, 2014.
A native of Highland, Utah, Ramos is a two-time all-Big West honoree earning honorable mention accolades in 2013 after picking up first team honors in 2012.
UC Santa Barbara was picked to finish first in the North Division with eight first place votes, while CSUN was picked to finish first in the South Division with six first-place votes.
Cal State Fullerton was selected to finish last in the South Division.
NUMBERS GAME
• The Titans have 17 returning letterwinners and nine returning starters from last year's team, and have added 14 newcomers. Of the newcomers, five are transfers, three come from the junior college ranks and six are freshmen.
• Fullerton scored 23 goals and added 22 assists for 68 points in 2013, and six of the team's top scorers return in Ian Ramos (4 goals, 3 assists), Garrett Losee (3 goals, 1 assist), Amara Soumah (3 goals), Marc Fenelus (2 goals, 2 assists), Spencer Johnson (1 goal, 1 assist) and Alex Cannas (2 goals, 1 assists). In fact, the Titans return 97 percent of their scoring from a season ago.
WHISTLE WHILE YOU WORK
Cal State Fullerton has been whistled for four fouls resulting in penalty kicks for opponents this season. Junior goalkeeper Jeff Salt has stopped 2-of-4 opponent PK attempts. The transfer from CSUSB made his first stop at San Diego on Sept. 1, and on Sept. 5 against San Francisco, made a save in the 24th minute as the game was tied 1-1.
KUNTZ ERA BEGINS
George Kuntz, a 26-year head coaching veteran, was appointed the eighth men's soccer head coach in Cal State Fullerton history, Athletic Director Jim Donovan announced on Dec. 16, 2013.
Kuntz joined Cal State Fullerton after serving 19 years as the men's head soccer coach at UC Irvine, turning the Anteaters into a perennial soccer power that have made four NCAA Tournament appearances in the last six years, winning four Big West Tournament championships (2008, 2009,2011, 2013) and three regular season titles (2008, 2010, 2011).Kuntz, a collegiate head coach no entering his 27th year was named the NSCAA/Adidas Far West Region Coach of the Year in (2006 and 2008) and has seen a number of players jump to the next level including 12 in Major League Soccer (MLS) and three on various U.S. National Teams.
His career record is 319-218-65, ranking second in Big West history with 141 victories as a member of the Big West Conference. In addition, his 62 Big West wins ranks third all-time.
INTERNATIONAL DUTY
Marc Fenelus competed in the 2014 Caribbean Cup for the Turks and Caicos Islands national team. Turks and Caicos suffered a 1-0 loss to Aruba and a 6-0 loss to French Guiana before the team's final match. In the 31st minute in a match against British Virgin Islands, Fenelus scored the team's first goal since 2008 as the team went on to a 2-0 victory.
HALL OF FAME
The most prolific scorer in the history of the men's soccer program, forward Mike Fox remains the "gold standard" when it comes to the Cal State Fullerton record books, embarking on an 11-year professional career following a standout four seasons with the Titans. He was inducted into the Cal State Fullerton Athletics Hall of Fame on Oct. 11, 2013.
Although records are incomplete from his freshman season in 1979, Fox is Fullerton's all-time leader in points with 119 and is the school record holder with 46 goals during a collegiate career that lasted until 1982. He holds three of the top 10 single-season scoring performances in school history, including a 40-point campaign as a senior in 1982 en route to second-team All-America honors on a career-high 17 goals and a total that ranks tied for second in a season and six assists.
Fox also ranks second on the all-time list with 26 assists, including a single-season record of 13 assists as a sophomore in 1980 that still stands today.