Cal State Fullerton at Vermont
Friday, Aug. 26 | 10 A.M. PT
Virtue Field | Burlington, VT
TV/Live Stream: goo.gl/NLXypD
Live Stats: N/A
Audio: N/A
Series CSUF leads 2-0-0
Cal State Fullerton at No. 16 UCLA
Monday, Aug. 29 | 7 P.M. (PT)
Drake Stadium | Westwood, CA
TV/Live Stream: uclabruins.com
Live Stats: uclabruins.com
Series: UCLA leads 26-7-1
FULLERTON, Calif. – The Titans hit the road to start their 2016 campaign as they travel across the country to battle Vermont on Friday at 10 a.m. and will trek back to California to take on No. 16 UCLA on Monday at 7 p.m. PT.
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RUNDOWN
-When the Titans begin the 2016 campaign on Saturday afternoon, it will be only the third meeting ever between Vermont and Fullerton. CSUF owns the all-time series (2-0) between the two schools as they combined to score seven goals in both of those contests.
-A close match should be expected at Virtue Field with Vermont and CSUF slated to finish at the top half of their respective conferences in 2016. The Catamounts were tabbed second in the American East Conference preseason poll and picked up two first-place votes, while the Titans were voted to finish first in the South Division of the Big West with seven first-place votes.
-After the long trip across the United States, the Titans return back to California as they face UCLA in Westwood. The Bruins have controlled the series by winning 26 of 33 matches between the two schools. Fullerton's last win against UCLA came in 2000 as the Titans defended their home turf and won a double overtime thriller, 3-2.
-After being picked to finish first in the Pac-12, UCLA enters the season ranked No. 16 in the country in the latest NSCAA poll. The Bruins have a tough non-conference schedule as they face No. 15 Indiana in their opener, No. 4 Maryland on Aug. 26th and follow that up with a match against the back-to-back Big West Tournament Champion Titans.
INCOMING TITANS
George Kuntz and the rest of the Titans coaching staff signed a strong 2016 class that gives Cal State Fullerton some much needed depth at key positions on the pitch. Defenders Jacob Cini and Corentin Ohlmann join the Titans as transfers and will look to make an immediate impact on the pitch. Midfielders Willy Ospina-Torres and Bryce Watson both contain high-motors and tremendous skills as they look to find success at the Division 1 level. Sam Molz and Armando Rivera round out the defenders in this year's class. Rivera comes to Fullerton with a strong success at the defender position, but Molz also compliments the Titans with a tremendous attacking style from the defender position that the CSUF coaching staff can't wait to see. Goalkeeper Paul-Andre Guerin looks to be the gem in this class as he trained at one of the top academy schools in France that is known worldwide for its youth development.
WE GOING BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK?
The 2015-16 CSUF men's soccer team cemented a spot forever in Titans history by winning a second-straight Big West Tournament and joining UC Irvine as the only schools to win multiple tournament titles. However, this year's squad has a chance to become the first school in conference history to win the tournament in three-consecutive seasons and it looks like the Titans have a pretty good shot. All seven Fullerton players who received all-conference honors last season will be returning, including goalkeeper David Rodriguez Elias who set a program-high 12 clean sheets in 2015.
FRIDAYS AT FULLERTON
With the start of the 2016-17 athletic season, CSUF introduces Fridays at Fullerton which is a membership club designed to enhance the Titan game day experience. The membership will feature a beer/wine hospitality area at every Friday home competition for all sports. Those interested in joining the club can visit www.fullertontitans. com/donate/Fridays_at_Fullerton for more information.
LEGEND IN THE MAKING
Entering this season, Titans head coach George Kuntz sits at second all-time in victories as a member of the Big West with 164 in total. Kuntz does lead active Big West coaches with the most career victories at 342, which is 110 more than UC Santa Barbara's Tim Vom Steeg who sits in second with 232.
LOOK GOOD, PLAY GOOD!
Titan Stadium received some upgrades this summer as the 24-year-old venue got a well-deserved facelift. The upgrade includes nine large-formate vinyl graphic, two large-format banners encased in an aluminum frame, dimensional LED signage on the back side of the press box, paint on the field-level bowl, repair and paint of existing handrails and 1400 feet of wide screen to enclose the venue. "Over the last two years, we have continually made upgrades to Titan Stadium, which we believe will make our venue an attractive destination for future Titans as our men's and women's soccer programs build upon their recent success and conference championships," Fullerton Director of Athletics Jim Donavan said.
NCAA TOURNAMENT BECOMING A HABIT
For the first time in 21 years, the Titans made back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Tournament after securing a spot in the prestigious field with their second-straight Big West Tournament title in 2015. This year's CSUF men's soccer squad could join some elite company in program history as an NCAA appearance this season would be only the second time ever that Titans men's soccer has made the tournament in three-straight seasons. The only other time that happened was in the 1970's when CSUF reached the NCAA Tournament in four-consecutive years (1973-76).
FINISHING STRONG
After tough home losses to CSUN and UC Riverside toward the end of last season, the Titans stormed into the Big West Tournament by winning road contests against UC Irvine and UC Riverside to close out the 2015 season. But that wouldn't be the end of the Titans winning streak as they went on to defeat Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara in the tournament for their second-straight conference title and fourth-consecutive win heading into the NCAA Tournament.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Cal State Fullerton is braced for a challenging start to the season as the Titans will play their first eight games of the year on the road. After traveling to Vermont and UCLA, CSUF heads to Las Vegas and San Diego for a pair of tournaments in September before rounding out the road trip with trips to San Francisco and Saint Mary's. The Titans' first home will be against Pacific on Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. PT. Season tickets are available at fullertontitans.com.