Weekly Release (PDF)
Santa Clara @ Cal State Fullerton
Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015 | 7:00 PM
Titan Stadium • Fullerton, Calif.
TV: None
Live Video: www.FullertonTitans.com
Live Stats: www.FullertonTitans.com
Audio: www.FullertonTitans.com
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets for the first round of the NCAA Tournament will go on sale at noon on Tuesday, November 17th.
After claiming their second-straight Big West Tournament Championship on Saturday by beating the North Division champs UC Santa Barbara, the Titans advanced to the NCAA Tournament and is hosting the first round against Santa Clara on Thursday night.
COME SEE THE TITANS
Cal State Fullerton students receive free admission to Titan home games with their Titan I.D. card.
OPPONENTS & HISTORY
Santa Clara | 7:00 p.m. | Thursday, Nov. 19 | Titan Stadium
Santa Clara finished the regular season with a 10-7-1 mark, 5-1-1 in the West Coast Conference while coming to Fullerton with a six-match unbeaten streak.
Santa Clara is led offensively by sophomore forward Carlos Delgadillo who has recorded nine goals this season, six more than the next scorer Edson Cardona with three goals. The Broncos have relied on senior goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh in the net who has played every minute for the Broncos, accumulating a 1.09 goals against average and logging five shutouts on the season.
Head to Head: The two teams met earlier in the season in Santa Clara when the Titans battled back after falling to a 1-0 deficit in the 63rd minute. A few minutes later, Diego Sanchez scored the equalizer before Ruben Alvarez put the game away in the 81st by scoring the game-winner.
BE A FOLLOWER
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
• The Titans rank in the top 50 in the nation in five different categories including: shutout percentage (7th at 0.57), team goals against average (25th at 0.79), save percentage (40th at 0.795), total goals (46th at 31) and won-loss-tied percentage (47th at 0.643).
• Titan goalkeeper David Rodriguez Elias currently sits at 6th in the nation in goalie minutes played with 1924:32 while ranking 31st in the nation out of all goalies in goals against average with a 0.795 gaa.
• The Titans lead the Big West in goals allowed with only 17 hitting the net.
• Cal State Fullerton and David Rodriguez Elias lead the Big West in shutouts logging 12 and is tied with four other teams in the nation who have 12 also in 2015.
• Elias also leads the Big West in goals against average and is the only keeper under 1.00 with a gaa of 0.79.
• The Titans rank 2nd in the Big West in three categories: Goals (31), points per game (4.14), and goals per game (1.48).
• The Titans only allowed 6 goals in ten Big West matches during the regular season.
• Fullerton makes its 12th NCAA Tournament appearance.
Cal State Fullerton won their second-straight Big West Tournament title on Saturday night with a 1-0 victory over North Division champs, UC Santa Barbara at Harder Stadium.
Fullerton was outshot 22-5 but defender Mitchell Bell managed to land his first goal of the year past goalkeeper Brandon Berke in the second half to lead the Titans to their second-straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
Seven Titans earned All-Conference honors last week, highlighted by defender Ricardo Covarrubias being named to the second team. Honorable mention honors were awarded to Robert Coronado, Nicolo D'Amato, David Rodriguez Elias and the freshmen trio of Brandon West, Ronaldo Pineda and Carlos Troncoso earned honorable mention and all-freshman team nod.
HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS
The Titans are 8-3 while playing in front of their home crowd at Titan Stadium, all seven of them being shutouts. In 2015, Fullerton posted seven wins at home, which is the most at Titan Stadium since they had 10 wins in 2000.
The Titans have posted back-to-back double-digit win seasons for the first time since 1999-2000. The thirteen wins this seasons passed last year's mark of ten, totaling to 23 wins under head coach George Kuntz' tutelage.
The Titans also posted six wins in Big West play this season, also the most since re-joining the Big West in 2001.
In addition to posting the best record in the last decade, Titan goalkeeper Elias broke the single-season shutout record previously set by Mike Ammann with 12 shutouts so far this season. He's also planted himself in the career shutout records, currently sitting alone in 4th place with 14 in his career thus far. Ammann also holds the career record, logging 19 while wearing a Titan uniform.
Also, the seven Titans earning All-Conference nods is the most received in program history.
Fourteen different Titans have scored this season to total the team's 31 goals, eight 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. Freshman Ronaldo Pineda also joined the club as he scored his first career goal against Sacramento State in a 2-0 shutout victory to open Big West play. Lastly, transfer Edgar Rodriguez and freshman Carlos Troncoso scored their first career goals against CSUN and UC Riverside, respectively.
NUMBER 400
The Cal State Fullerton men's soccer team recorded their 400th win in program history in a 3-0 victory over UC Irvine.
DAVID GARNERS #AOTW HONORS
Junior goalkeeper David Rodriguez Elias earned the first Big West Defensive Player of the Week honors after leading his team to a 2-0 weekend in week 9, while collecting two shutouts.
The Titan keeper logged six saves on the weekend, including four key saves against rival UC Irvine.
Freshmen Brandon West, Ross McPhie and Ronaldo Pineda have made an impact in the Titans' offense, all three of them scoring a goal a piece in the Titans' first win over UC Irvine. On the season, West has scored three goals while McPhie has scored four each while accumulating 7 assists between the two. Pineda scored his second of the year and currently leads the Titans with 35 shots in 2015.
BRYAN NOTCHES WEEKLY HONORS
Junior defender Zach Bryan notched his first career Big West Defensive Player of the Week honors after anchoring a defense that led the Titans to a 2-0 weekend. The Murrieta native led the Titan defense, which posted two shutouts this weekend against Sacramento State (2-0) and UC Davis (1-0), while logging the team's fourth shutout in five games.
Bryan was instrumental in leading a Titan defense that allowed only 13 shots between the two teams, including Thursday night's match against Sacramento State who managed only three shots, none of them being on goal.
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.
