Weekly Release (PDF)
THIS WEEK
After a thrilling comeback victory in the first round of the Big West Conference Tournament against UC Davis, the Titans advance to the semifinals on Wednesday as they travel to UC Riverside Soccer Field to take on the Highlanders at 7:00 p.m.
QUICK HITS
• The Titans are back in the Big West Conference semifinals for the first time since 2010 when they beat UC Irvine 2-1 before losing 3-1 to UC Santa Barbara in the finals.
• With the two goals the Titans scored against UC Davis last Saturday, the team has now found the back of the net 30 times this season, the highest output since the 2001 team had 33.
• 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 30 goals this season coming from 11 different players.
• Fullerton continues its chase for the school record for most shutouts in a single season. The shutout of CSUN on Oct. 22 marked number seven on the season for the Titans. The 1993 Titan team set the record finishing with nine.
HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION
Cal State Fullerton fans can follow the action as the Titans take on the Highlanders in tournament semifinal action, Wednesday at 7:00 p.m., at UC Riverside Soccer Field by logging on to FullertonTitans.com
Live Stats.......FullertonTitans.com
Live Audio.....FullertonTitans.com
OPPONENT & HISTORY
UC Riverside | 7:00 PM
Wednesday, Nov. 12 | UC Riverside Soccer Field
UC Riverside's late season success against Big West opponents propelled them into the No. 1 seed in the South Division heading into the conference tournament. In their regular-season finale, a 2-0 road win against previously No. 18-ranked UC Irvine earned them a first-round bye and hosting responsibilities for the semifinals.
The Highlanders started Big West play 1-3-1 before finishing on a 3-0-2 five-game unbeaten streak, starting with a 2-1 win against UC Irvine at UC Riverside Soccer Field when the Anteaters were ranked No. 2 in the nation.
Michael Salazar is the man to watch out for on the UC Riverside roster, tallying six of the Highlanders 21 goals on the season.
Head-to-Head: Fullerton's all-time series record against the Highlanders currently stands at 15-10-6.
Last Time Out: On Nov. 1 the Titans and the Highlanders tied 2-2 at Titan Stadium. Goals by CSF's Marc Fenelus and Amara Soumah coupled with UCR goal's by Michael Salazar and Juan Mendoza created the stalemate. The two team's combined for 59 fouls, along withtwo red cards shown to UCR.
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.
RECENT PLAYOFF HISTORY
The Titans are back in the Big West Conference Tournament for the second time in the past four years. Their other appearance came in 2012 when they traveled to UC Davis and lost 2-0. The last time the Titans made it to the semifinal round was in 2010 when they beat UC Irvine 2-1 to advance to the finals against UC Santa Barbara.
2014 ALL CONFERENCE SELECTIONS
Marc Fenelus and Ian Ramos garnered second team all-conference selections while Garrett Losee, Colin Okirie, Gabriel Quintero and Jeff Salt earned all-conference honorable mention selections. See the rest of the all conference teams here.
THANK YOU SENIORS
Twelve Titan student-athletes are playing in their last Big West Conference Tournament this season. This year's senior class includes: (MF) Alex Cannas, (F) Marc Fenelus, (MF) Ritchie Gonzalez, (MF) Spencer Johnson, (MF) Garrett Losee, (D) Gabriel Quintero, (MF) Ian Ramos, (F) Amara Soumah, (MF) Mark Vasquez, (D) Jesse Vega, (D) Fermin Villalba, and (MF) Jordan Wolff.
QUALITY NOT QUANTITY
There have been five games this season where the Titans have amassed over 21 total shots in a game. Suprisingly, their record in those games is 1-2-2, with the one win coming on a 30-shot outburst against Pacific on Oct. 13. In games where the Titans take less than 20 shots their record is 8-5-3 overall.
THE CUP IS UP FOR GRABS
Fullerton, who was picked last in the preseason Big West poll, has now earned its way into the semifinals after shocking UC Davis with two goals in the last five minutes of the game to earn the 2-1 victory. The Titans will now go on to play UC Riverside in the semifinals of the Big West Conference Tournament. The other semifinal match will feature the No. 2 seed in the South Division UC Irvine against the No. 1 seed in the North Divison UC Santa Barbara.
SHUT 'EM OUT
The Titans have now shut out seven of their 21 opponents on the year, leading the Big West in that category. The shutout of CSUN on Oct. 22 moved the 2014 Titan team into a tie for second place in the Fullerton record book. Keepers David Rodriguez Elias and Jeff Salt have shared the workload in those games, Salt earning five shutouts and Rodriguez Elias netting two. The 2014 Titans are chasing the 1993 Titans who totaled nine shutouts in that year.
OFFENSIVE POWER
The goals by Ian Ramos and Nigel Patterson in last Saturday's win at UC Davis pushed the season total to 30 for the Titans, the most for a Fullerton team since the 2001 squad put 33 in the back of the net.
SET PIECES
Cal State Fullerton prides itself on a possession oriented attacking style that leads to not only 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 132. The closest team to Fullerton in the Big West is UC Irvine with 125.
SENIOR LEADERSHIP
Of the 11 Titans that have scored a goal this year, six of them are seniors playing their last season in a Titan uniform. In fact, the goals scored by seniors Marc Fenelus (7 goals), Amara Soumah (5), Garrett Losee (4), Ian Ramos (3), and Mark Vasquez (1) this year have accounted for 20 of the 30 goals on the year. This means the senior class has scored 66 percent of the goals for the Titans in 2014.
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.
LATE GAME HEROICS
Nigel Patterson was put into the game late in last Saturday's win against UC Davis, and he rewarded head coach George Kuntz for his belief in him when he found a way to toe-poke a loose ball into the net to give the Titans a 2-1 lead with only 8.9 seconds left to play. Patterson's goal was the latest goal the Titans have scored all year and advanced them past the Aggies and into the semifinals against UC Riverside.
STARTING FAST
The semifinal matchup between Fullerton and UC Riverside could come down to who can get on the board first. UC Riverside is a quick strike team, with 14 of its 21 goals on the season coming in the first half of play. On the other hand, the Titans' record is 6-0 when taking a lead into halftime. The Titans record drops to 3-7-5 when they are even, or trailing going into the final 45 minutes.
STATS
• Cal State Fullerton leads the league in corner kicks (132), total shots (324) and total assists (29), and are tied for first in season goals (30) and shutouts (7).
• The Titans are also first in the league with 332 fouls.
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. During his junior year, Ramos appeared in 18 matches, making 15 starts and finished the season as the Titans' leading scorer with four goals and three assists. As just a sophomore in 2012, Ramos developed into one of the Titans' premier offensive threats, netting six goals (second onthe team) and dishing out a team-leading six assists. His 18 total points were tied for the most on the team and tied for the fifth most in the Big West.
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 3-of-5 opponent PK attempts. The transfer from CSUSB made his first stop at San Diego on Sept. 1, Sept. 5 against San Francisco, and his latest is arguably best in the final game of the regular season on Nov. 5, with the postseason on the line, he stopped a PK from Big West goals leader Sagi Lev-Ari of CSUN to keep the score 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.
