Weekly Release (PDF)
THIS WEEK
The final of the 2014 Big West Tournament will be a showdown of Southern California rivals as Cal State Fullerton travels to Anteater Stadium on Saturday at 7:00 p.m., to take on UC Irvine for the chance to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
QUICK HITS
• The Titans are back in the Big West Conference finals for the first time since 2010 when they lost to UC Santa Barbara 3-1.
• With three goals scored against UC Riverside last Wednesday, the Titans have now found the back of the net 33 times this season, tying the 2001 team for the the highest season output.
• Cal State Fullerton head coach George Kuntz is now 10-1 all-time in the Big West Tournament, including 8-1 in his time at UC Irvine, and 2-0 with the Titans.
• The Titans have come out on top two very different ways this postseason, scoring two goals in the last five minutes to win 2-1 in the first round against UC Davis, and shutting out UC Riverside 3-0 in the semifinals.
• CSF has put pressure on defenses lately, drawing red-cards for the opposition in the last four contests.
• Fullerton continues its chase for the school record for most shutouts in a single season. The shutout of UC Riverside last Wednesday marked number eight 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 UC Irvine in the finals of the Big West Conference Tournament, Saturday at 7:00 p.m., at Anteater Stadium by logging on to FullertonTitans.com
Live Stats.......FullertonTitans.com
Live Video......FullertonTitans.com
Live Audio.....FullertonTitans.com
OPPONENT & HISTORY
UC Irvine | 7:00 PM
Saturday, Nov. 15 | Anteater Stadium
UC Irvine's ranking in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll topped out at No. 3 this season, most recently on Oct. 21, and now the Anteaters sit just one win away from a second-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament.
The Anteaters have defeated two Big West North Division opponents in their road to the final, beating No. 3 seed Sacramento State 2-0 in the first round, and handing No. 1 seed UC Santa Barbara a 3-2 loss in the semifinals on Wednesday.
UCI sat atop of the South Division standings nearly all season, but lost four of its last five Big West games to slip into the No. 2 seed after its season-finale loss to UC Riverside.
All season long Gor Kirakosyan and Edwardo Calzada have led the Anteaters on offense, but it is Cameron Iwasa and Matt Tilley who have been powering the offense in the postseason, each with two goals in the last two games for the Anteaters.
Head-to-Head: Fullerton's all-time series record against the Anteaters currently stands at 19-24-7.
Last Time Out: Fullerton lost a heart-breaking Big West South Division game to UC Irvine at Titan Stadium on Oct. 29 after Mario Ortiz scored a late game-winning goal to give the Anteaters a 1-0 victory over the Titans.
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 a run to the finals round was in 2010 when they beat UC Irvine 2-1 in the semifinals, before losing to UC Santa Barbara in the finals.
KUNTZ RETURNS - PART TWO
First-year Titan head coach George Kuntz left a powerhouse UC Irvine team when he took the job at Fullerton this past year, but Kuntz had this matchup in mind long before their semifinal win against UC Riverside. "It couldn't be a better scenario," Kuntz said. "It's funny because, when I took this job, I told Coach (Chris) Volk 'I want to see your team and our team in the final.' I didn't know it would happen this quick, but I'm excited about going back to Irvine and us having a chance to play these guys. I think both of these teams should represent the conference well in the final. It's a well deserved final."
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 all 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 finals after powering through UC Riverside Wednesday with two goals in the first 15 minutes of the game and one that put the game out of reach in the second half to earn the 3-0 victory. The Titans will face UC Irvine for the third time this season when they meet in the finals.
SHUT 'EM OUT
The Titans have now shut out eight of their 22 opponents on the year, leading the Big West in that category. The shutout of UC Riverside Wednesday moved the 2014 Titan team into second place in the Fullerton record book. Keepers David Rodriguez Elias and Jeff Salt have shared the workload in those games, Salt earning six 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, Marc Fenelus and Diego Sanchez in the semifinal win at UC Riverside pushed the season total to 33 for the Titans, the most for a Fullerton team since the 2001 squad also 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 129.
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 (4), and Mark Vasquez (1) this year have accounted for 21 of the 33 goals on the year. This means the senior class has scored 65 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 the semifinal 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 final matchup between Fullerton and UC Irvine could come down to which team can take the lead into the second-half. The Titans have a perfect record holding on to halftime leads this year going 7-0. However, their 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 (340) and total assists (33), and are tied for first in season goals (33).
• The Titans are also first in the league with 347 fouls and shutout's (8).
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.
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 six fouls resulting in penalty kicks for opponents this season. Junior goalkeeper Jeff Salt has stopped 4-of-6 opponent PK attempts. The transfer from Cal State San Bernardino made his first stop at San Diego on Sept. 1, Sept. 5 against San Francisco, arguably his best in the final game of the regular season on Nov. 5, with the postseason on the line he made a save on Big West goals leader Sagi Lev-Ari of CSUN to keep the score tied 1-1, and his latest he stopped Otis Earle to keep a two goal lead intact Wednesday against UC Riverside.
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.
