SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The Cal State Fullerton men's soccer squad scored four unanswered goals en route to a 4-1 victory over Memphis on Friday evening at the Courtyard Marriott San Diego Central Tournament.
"Our team has battled through some close games early this season so we wanted to make a statement today versus a very good-winning team that has beaten soem good teams," coach George Kuntz said.
"We need to remain focused and build on what we learned about ourselves each game. Our goalscoring was what we have been hoping for all season and we made an extra effort on focusing on our sharpness when attacking."
With the win, the Titans collect their second victory of the season and have scored three goals in two of the past three contests. Also, Fullerton has now tied the all-time series between both programs at two victories a piece.
Memphis got on the board first with a header from Chandler Klemm to give the Tigers an early 1-0 lead in the 10th minute, but the Fullerton defense settled in as the only surrendered one shot the rest of the match.
After entering the ball game in the 28th minute, Ruben Alvarez proved to be the spark off the bench the Titans needed as the senior scored his second career goal with Fullerton to tie the score at one and sway the momentum heading into half.
In the second, the Titans started the half in attack-mode as Fullerton had numerous chances early on, including a shot that hit off the post from Rei Dorwart.
However, persistence paid off as Ronaldo Pineda had a beauty of a goal to give the Titans a 2-1 lead. The sophomore's second goal of the season came off a free kick the curled right inside the top half of the post.
Robert Coronado extended the CSUF lead just two minutes later in the 70th minute with a laser strike from 20-yards out to give the Titans some breathing room late.
"Robert Coronado scored a goal I've seen 300 times in practice and have been waiting for three years in a game," coach Kuntz said.
Up 3-1, Alex Heilmann added another goal in the 80th minute to seal the 4-1 victory for Fullerton and net his fifth goal of the year.
Overall, CSUF outshot Memphis by nine shots (11-2), drew six more corner kicks than the Tigers (8-2) and only surrendered one shot in both the first and second halves.
"Great overall team effort for every member of our family," coach Kuntz said.
On Sunday, the Titans will look to close out their San Diego trip with a sweep as they face Texas Rio-Grande Valley at 4 p.m. PT. The match will be the first ever meeting between Fullerton and the Broncos.
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