Cal Poly at Cal State Fullerton
Thursday, Sept. 29 | 7 P.M. PT
Titan Stadium | Fullerton, CA
Live Stats: fullertontitans.com
Live Stream: fullertontitans.com
Series: CSUF leads 18-13-1
UC Santa Barbara at Cal State Fullerton
Sunday, Oct. 1 | 7 P.M. PT
Titan Stadium | Fullerton, CA
Live Stats: fullertontitans.com
Live Stream: fullertontitans.com
Series: CSUF trails 24-30-3
FULLERTON, Calif. -- The Titans start Big West play this week as they hosts Cal Poly on Thursday at 7 p.m. PT and UC Santa Barbara on Saturday at 7 p.m. PT.
Both matches will have a live stream available for fans to watch at fullertontitans.com, along with live updates on the Cal State Fullerton men's soccer Twitter page (@CSUFMensSoccer).
RUNDOWN vs. Cal Poly
-With non-conference play finished, the Titans are set to begin Big West play when they host North division foe Cal Poly at Titan Stadium on Thursday at 7 p.m. PT. Fullerton is coming off a 2-0 loss to Pacific at home last Sunday, while the Mustangs are riding-high after a 1-0 victory over No. 6 UCLA last Friday to extend there unbeaten streak to three matches.
-Thursday's match against Cal Poly wil be the 33rd between the two programs as the Titans currently lead the all-time series, 18-13-1. The last meeting betwen both schools was last season in the Big West Tournament semi-finals and the Titans won the battle by defeating the Mustangs, 3-1, at Titan Stadium last November. Fullerton has gone unbeaten in the last four matches against the Mustangs.
-Cal Poly has gotten off to a slow start at 2-4-1, but they will be prepared for conference play as they had a tough schedule to start the year with matches at No. 5 Wake Forest and No. 8 North Carolina. So expect the Mustangs to be a lot better than their record says they are.
RUNDOWN vs. UC Santa Barbara
-After facing Cal Poly on Thursday, Fullerton takes on UC Santa Barbara at Titan Stadium on Saturday at 7 p.m. PT. This will be the first meeting between the two schools since the Titans defeated the Gauchos in the Big West Tournament Championship to collect their second-straight tournament title.
-Overall, this is the 58th meeting as UC Santa Barbara currently leads the series between both programs, 24-30-3. Fullerton has fared well at home though as they are 16-9 against the Gauchos when facing them as the home team. On the other hand, UCSB has also defended its hometurf with a 21-8 home record against the Titans. The last regular-season meeting between UCSB and CSUF in Fullerton ended up being a Titan victory with goals from Robert Coronado and Mitchell Bell to give their squad a 2-0 win in 2014.
-UC Santa Barbara got off to a 4-0-0 start this season before dropping their last five matches to enter conference play with a 4-5-0 record. The Gauchos do have impressive wins at Ohio State in overtime and vs. San Diego at home.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
-CSUF's Robert Coronado: Coronado has been the leader of the midfield this year as he currently leads Fullerton with 22 shots and is second on the team with 11 shots on goal.
-CSUF's Ross McPhie: After his incredible chip shot against San Francisco two weeks ago, McPhie has quietly established himself as one of the premiere midfielders on the Titans.
PAUL-ANDRE HOLDING STRONG IN NET
Since making his first career start against No. 16 UCLA, Titans goalkeeper Paul-Andre Guerin continues to get more and more confident in the net each match. Before giving up a goal in the second half to St. Mary's, Guerin hadn't let a shot get by him for 374-minutes, which dates all the way back to 10th minute of the Memphis match on Sept. 9th. During that stretch, the true freshman collected nine saves, two clean sheets (vs. UTRGV & USF) and lead the Titans to a three-game winning streak. Overall, Guerin is second in the Big West with two clean sheets and third in goal against average (1.10) and shutouts per game (0.25).
BAD BLOOD?
In the Big West Tournament title game last season at UC Santa Barbara, CSUF's Mitchell Bell cleaned up a shot off the post into the back of the net to defeat the Gauchos and give the Titans back-to-back Big West Tournament Championships. Also, it was the second time in program history the Titans won the tournament title on the road.
TAKE A SHOT FOR ME
With attacking midfielders like Ronaldo Pineda and Robert Coronado, the Titans will usually get a steady diet of shots every 90 minutes, but this season Fullerton has been out-shooting opponents by a wide margin. In Fullerton's first nine matches, the Titans have 40 more shots than their opponents. But the most impressive stat is that nationally the Titans are ranked 36th in shots on goal per game with 6.44. With all these shots on goal, it's no surprise the Titans rank third in the Big West with 12 goals on the season.
HEILMANN'S HOT START
CSUF senior Alex Heilmann made the move to forward this summer and it's been a joy to watch. Heilmann has six goals in just nine matches this season, including two game-winners against UTRGV & UNLV (where he also recorded a hat trick). The seniors six goals puts him tied for first in the Big West and 16th nationally. Look for the seasoned Titan to continue to wreck havoc in the attacking half.
TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS ON THE ROAD
With a tough eight-match road trip to begin the season, the Titans needed to show their strength playing away from home and they showed it in bunches as Fullerton collected three-straight neutral/road wins against Memphis, UTRGV and San Francisco the past two weekends. Against Memphis, the Tigers got on the board first in the 10th minute of the match, but Fullerton went on to score four unanswered goals to win, 4-1. The match against UTRGV was a battle to the finish as overtime was needed, but the Titans proved to be victorious thanks to Alex Heilmann's late-winner in double overtime. Lastly, another close match was played as the Titans and Dons were scoreless through the first 45 minutes. In the 58th, Ross McPhie put up a beautiful chip shot from about 15-yards out that went over the USF keeper's head to give the Titans a 1-0 win over the Dons. Unfortunately, the trip ended with a loss to St. Mary's last Sunday, but luckily Fullerton will have its next three matches at home before hitting the road again to take on Sacramento State in October.
DEFENDING TOGETHER
Since the beginning of the year, coach George Kuntz has preached to the Titans that defending as a team will lead to great success this season and so far they've been doing that. After giving up three goals in the opener to Vermont, the Fullerton defense has improved tremendously as they've only surrendered nine goals in the past eight contests. In those eight matches, the Titans have collected two clean sheets and helped freshman goalkeeper Paul-Andre Guerin hold a 374-minute scoreless stretch through three and a half matches.
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.
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.
TICKETS
The Cal State Fullerton Athletics Ticket Office is located in the Titan House off of Gymnasium Drive on the northeast side of Titan Gym. Ticket purchases can be made in person at the Ticket Office, over the phone, or online. Those interested in the best available tickets should visit FullertonTitans.com at least 24 hours prior to any athletic sporting event.
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL
Make sure to follow @CSUFMensSoccer on Twitter and like the Cal State Fullerton Men's Soccer page on Facebook to keep up with the Titans. Also, make sure to give a follow to @FullertonTitans on Twitter and Snapchat.