Box Score (PDF)

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – The Cal State Fullerton men's soccer team earned a hard fought 1-1 double-overtime draw Saturday night against UC Riverside at UC Riverside Soccer Stadium, as the teams traded goals in the first half, Michael Salazar scoring for the Highlanders and Amara Soumah for the Titans.

For the fourth time this season  the Titans have peppered the opposing goalkeeper with over 20 shots, and only once has that statistic lead to a win.  On Oct. 13 Fullerton out shot Pacific 30-4 and went on to win 4-0.

The Highlanders opened up the scoring in the 16th minute behind Salazar's fifth goal of the season.   The assists coming from Jonathan Tovar and Otis Earle after some skillful passing in the Fullerton box lead to the score, past Titans goalkeeper Jeff Salt, putting UCR in the lead 1-0.

It didn't take long for the Titans to tie up the score 1-1, however.   A corner kick by Spencer Johnson in the 23rd minute led to Amara Soumah's fourth goal of the season as he poked the ball to the back of the net on a scrum in front of Highlander goalkeeper Ashkan Khosravi.  Assists were credited to Spencer Johnson and Mitchell Bell.

The halftime whistle arrived with no further tally's for either side, the two teams went to their respective locker rooms with the score 1-1.

The second half featured even play from the South Division rivals, with the shots in the period slightly favoring the Titans, 10-8.  Fullerton also created more set piece opportunities for themselves, winning the corner kick battle 5-1.

The tie for the Titans, coupled with a UC Irvine loss to CSUN, pulls Fullerton into a tie for first-place in the Big West South Division.  Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine are both 3-3-1 in conference play, and each has three games left to vie for that top seed.

The two teams will not have to wait long to separate themselves, as Fullerton is back at Titan Stadium on Wednesday against their co-division leaders UC Irvine at 7:00 p.m.

Notes: With the tie tonight, the Titans all-time series record against UC Riverside moves to 15-10-5…The Titan tie moves them into a tie for first-place in the Big West Conference South Division with UC Irvine…This game marked the fifth game this season that the Titans have amassed 20 or more shots, including another two games where they totaled 19…The Titans will get another chance to battle UC Riverside this year when the teams meet Nov. 1 at Titan Stadium.