Weekly Release (PDF)
San Diego @ Cal State Fullerton
Friday, Sept. 18, 2015 | 7:00 PM
Titan Stadium • Fullerton, Calif.
TV: None
Live Video: www.FullertonTitans.com
Live Stats: www.FullertonTitans.com
Audio: www.FullertonTitans.com
Sunday, Sept. 20, 2015 | 2:00 PM
Titan Stadium • Fullerton, Calif.
TV: None
Live Video: www.FullertonTitans.com
Live Stats: www.FullertonTitans.com
Audio: www.FullertonTitans.com
THIS WEEK
The Cal State Fullerton men's soccer team is looking to continue their hot streak and avenge the loss that ended their 2014 season this Friday night as they host San Diego at Titan Stadium at 7:00 p.m.
COME SEE THE TITANS
Cal State Fullerton students receive free admission to Titan home games with their Titan I.D. card.
OPPONENTS & HISTORY
San Diego | 7:00 p.m. | Sunday, Sept. 13 | Titan Stadium
San Diego won the West Coast Conference in 2014 with an overall record of 11-6-4 giving them the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, where they met up with the Titans in the first round. Head Coach Seamus McFadden is in his 37th year at the helm of the Toreros and guided them to the second round of the NCAA tournament last year when they ended their season in a 2-1 overtime loss to UCLA.
The Toreros return seven of their starters, including their WCC Freshman of the Year goalkeeper and First Team All-WCC senior forward who scored seven goals in 2014.
San Diego opened up their season with wins over No. 16 Cal and Big West opponent, UC Riverside.
Head to Head: The Titans and Toreros last met in the first round of the 2014 NCAA tournament, where USD came out on top after a golden-goal penalty kick came in double overtime to end the Titans 2014 season.
Texas Rio-Grande Valley | 2:00 p.m. | Sunday, Sept. 20 | Titan Stadium
The Vaqueros come to Titan Stadium in their first season in 18 years as the university was created in December 2012. The university has combined the resources and assets of UTPA and UTB to create their first competitive year in the NCAA as UTRGV.
In 2015, the Vaqueros are 2-2-1 and will be visiting San Diego State on Friday night before their match against the Titans.
Fans can keep up with the latest in Titans athletics by following us on Facebook (FullertonTitans) and Twitter (@FullertonTitans). In addition, the men's soccer team has established its own Facebook and Twitter presence. Search for "Cal State Fullerton Men's Soccer" on Facebook or follow them on Twitter at @CSUFMensSoccer.
QUICK HITS
• Cal State Fullerton has the second highest winning percentage at .600, just below Cal Poly with .700.
• Cal State Fullerton leads the Big West Conference in goals per game with a 1.8 average.
• Goalkeeper David Rodriguez Elias ranks fourth in the Big West with a goals against average of 1.00.
• Sophomore Diego Sanchez leads the Big West in points with 7 on the year.
• Cal State Fullerton ranks second in the Big West Conference with nine goals on the season.
A FRESH START
The Titans are off to their best start since 2011 when they went 3-0-2 in the first five games.
SANCHEZ LEADING THE PACK
Sophomore Diego Sanchez had a career performance on Sunday against San Francisco where he scored two goals, matching his season total from last year. The midfielder led the team with six shots, four of them on goal and has scored his Big West leading three goals within the last two games.
Sanchez is also the Big West leader with 7 points, including his three goals and an assist that he logged in the team's first shutout victory against George Washington on Sept. 4.
FRESH BLOOD
Freshman Brandon West is the first Titan in history to earn Big West Player of the Week honors as a freshman. The forward scored the first goal of his career against George Washington and had the assist in the game-winning goal in Sunday's comeback victory over Santa Clara to earn him the nod.
I SCORE, YOU SCORE, WE ALL SCORE!
Six different Titans have scored this season to total the team's nine goals, five Titans scoring their first career goals.
Freshmen Brandon West, Michael Lopez and Ross McPhie scored their first goals in a Titan uniform in a 3-0 shutout over George Washington. Transfer Ruben Alvarez and sophomore Nicolo D'Amato scored the first goals of their careers as in a comeback victory against Santa Clara and in a 3-0 victory over San Francisco, respectively.
PUT ME IN, COACH!
A season-high of 21 Titans saw the field in their first victory of the season against George Washington. Three Titans made their first appearances of the year - Zach Bryan, Roman Manning (first career appearance) and Nigel Patterson; while Alex Heilmann and Robert Coronado received their first starting nods of 2015.
PRESEASON MATCH UPS
Cal State Fullerton was put to the test this preseason with exhibition matches against No. 16 Cal and the U17 Mexican National Team. The Titans played a 1-1 draw against Cal with Diego Sanchez scoring the Titans lone goal of the match before netting another goal against Mexico in a 3-1 loss.
PRESEASON PREDICTIONS
The Cal State Fullerton men's soccer team, defending Big West Tournament Champions, were picked to finish third in the Big West Preseason Poll.
To round out the South Division, Cal State Northridge received two first-place votes while Cal State Fullerton, the Big West Tournament Champion, collected 20 points and one first-place vote. In the North Division, UC Santa Barbara heads the list with 30 total points while receiving seven first-place votes.
FRESH FACES FOR 2015
The Titans added 17 new faces to the program for the 2015 season including 11 freshmen and six transfers to absorb the loss of the 12 seniors from the 2014 class. All 17 new faces will look to make an immediate impact on the pitch for Fullerton as the program looks to achieve back–to-back Big West Tournament Championships and NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time in school history.
Cal State Fullerton (10-8-6), led by first-year head coach George Kuntz won their first Big West Tournament Championship in school history. After finishing third in the Big West South Division regular season, the Titans beat UC Irvine in the championship game to give them the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Fullerton concluded its season with a heartbreaking loss in double overtime against the University of San Diego in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
KUNTZ ERA BEGINS WITH HISTORICAL SEASON
With 10 wins in his inaugural season, Kuntz posted the most wins in his first season as head coach of the Titans since Al Mistri won 13 games in 1981. The 10 wins also led the Titans first winning season since 2001 and guided Fullerton to their first ever Big West Tournament Championship.
Kuntz logged the first win of his Titan career when he led the Titans to a 4-3, double overtime comeback victory over 14th-ranked University of Maryland, Baltimore County on Sept. 14. He later led Cal State Fullerton over his old team, UC Irvine, in the championship game of the Big West Tournament on Nov. 15 in a penalty-kick shootout victory, 4-3, giving the Titans the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
