Cal State Fullerton at CSUN
Wednesday, Oct. 12 | 7 P.M. PT
Matador Soccer Field | Northridge, CA
Live Stats: gomatadors.com
Series: CSUN leads 22-17-3
UC Riverside at Cal State Fullerton
Saturday, Oct. 15 | 7 P.M. PT
Titan Stadium | Fullerton, CA
Live Stats: ucdavisaggies.com
Live Stream: ucdavisaggies.com
Series: CSUF leads 17-10-6
FULLERTON, Calif. -- Cal State Fullerton's men's soccer squad soccer takes the pitch for a pair of conference matches this week as the Titans face CSUN at Matador Soccer Field tomorrow at 7 p.m. PT. CSUF closes out the week by returning home to Titan Stadium to take on UC Riverside on Saturday night at 7 p.m. PT.
RUNDOWN vs. CSUN:
-Looking to end their losing streak, the Titans head to Matador Soccer Field to take on CSUN at 7 p.m. PT on Wednesday night. Fullerton is coming off a tough road trip where they fell to Sacramento State and UC Davis. On the other hand, the Matadors escaped last weekend with a point as they tied with Cal Poly and lost to UC Santa Barbara.
-Wednesday's meeting between the CSUF and CSUN will be the 43rd all-time. The Matadors lead the series 17-22-3, but the Titans won the last match played in Northridge back in 2015. Nigel Patterson's goal right before the half proved to be the winner as current Titan Ross McPhie assisted on the goal.
-CSUN had a strong start to Big West play this season as the Matadors defended their home field against UC Davis and Sacramento State to begin the conference season at 2-0. Prior to conference play, the Matadors have fared well at home this season as they sit at 3-0-1 with their other home win coming against Tulsa in their season opener.
RUNDOWN vs. UC RIVERSIDE:
-After battling CSUN, Fullerton heads back to Titan Stadium for a match with UC Riverside on Saturday at 7 p.m. PT. UC Riverside currently sits atop the South Division with a record at 3-0-1. The Titans sit at 1-3-0 in conference play and are third in the South Division.
-Fullerton leads the all-time series against the Highlanders, 16-10-6, and has won back-to-back road matches against UC Riverside. In 2015, Ross McPhie and Carlos Troncoso netted goals to give the Titans a 2-0 victory over the Highlanders.
-UC Riverside has been on fire of late as the Highlanders defeated UC Davis and Sacramento State on the road. Stephen Copley was named the Big West Conference Defensive Player of the Week after keeping two of the best attacking squads in the conference in check last weekend. With three victories already in conference play, the Highlanders are one win away from tying the program record for most Big West victories in a season.
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
-CSUF's Nicolo D'Amato (MF, Jr.): Has started each game and has been a crucial piece to the Titan midfield as D'Amato has netted two goals this year while collecting one assist.
-CSUF's Robert Coronado (MF, Jr.): In last year's match against UC Riverside, Coronado assisted on both goals in the match so look for the junior to have a big game against UCR.
CHASING HISTORY
After 12 clean sheets last season (program-record), David Elias sits just five shutouts away from the Fullerton career shutouts record, which is 19 by Mike Ammann from 1991-93. The senior leader on this year's Titan squad came close to adding another shutout to his resume but a late goal by Cal Poly in Friday's match ended the potential shutout bid. For the remainder of the regular season, Elias will have nine more games to try and add to his career shutouts. In 2015, the Huntington Beach native recorded eight shutouts in eight of 12 Big West matches for the Titans including a shutout at UC Santa Barbara where Elias led Fullerton to its second-straight conference tournament title. The senior's most impressive stretch last season came from Sept. 20-Oct. 17 where he recorded a shutout in seven of nine matches and had a period of four-straight clean sheets. As the conference season carries on, Elias will continue to find a rhythm in the net and hopefully play a big part in the Titans' journey to winning the Big West Tournament Championship for a third consecutive season.
VETERAN EXPERIENCE
The Titans have a pretty big group of seniors in this year's squad as nine players enter their final year with the men's soccer program. David Elias and Alex Heilmann are just two seniors who have done a great job this season of spreading their knowledge and experience across the whole team. Defenders Mitchell Bell and Ricardo Covarrubias have also helped young defenders Michael Lopez and Corentin Ohlmann adjust to the college level which has led to a significant amount of playing time for the two young defenders. Elias has been a key part of Paul-Andre Guerin's quick development into the starting keeper for the Titans as well. Guerin has been up-and-down this season but the true freshman held opponents scoreless for 374 minutes through three and a half matches. Senior leadership has been crucial to the Titans mindset this season because they've showed the younger guys what it takes to be successful this season. For example, Alex Heilmann made the switch from defender to forward this year look as easy as can be by scoring six goals already thus far.
CLOSING IN ON 350
Fullerton men's soccer coach George Kuntz continues to add to his stellar coaching legacy this season as he currently sits at 347 career victories which puts him only three wins away from reaching 350. With nine regular season matches left (all against Big West opponents), Kuntz could collect his 350th career win and 75th Big West victory at the same time as he also sits at 72 career wins which gives him the third most in conference history. Currently, Kuntz has a steady lead when it comes to all-time career victories as the Titan head coach leads UC Santa Barbara's Tim Vom Steeg by 110 wins. Coach Kuntz has also been outstanding when tournament times come around as he has a 13-1 career record in the Big West Tournament and is currently undefeated in the conference tournament (5-0) since taking the helm at Fullerton back in 2014. So with conference play in full swing make sure to keep an eye on coach Kuntz' milestone of 350 career victories and 75 Big West wins.
STARTING STRONG
The 2016 season has been up-and-down so far for the Titans as they've battled to get over the .500 mark, but that has been one consistency so far this year and that is winning when they score the opening strike. When scoring first in a match this season, Fullerton is currently undefeated at 3-0-0. Also, the Titans are undefeated (2-0-0) when scoring three or more goals and leading at halftime. Both of those situations have been key to Fullerton's victories. However, when opponents strike first in the match the Titans have a hard time bouncing back as all six of their losses this year have came as a result of the opponents scoring first.
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.
FULLERTONTITANS.COM
Make sure to visit the official site of Cal State Fullerton Athletics (FullertonTitans.com) for the latest news, scores, stats and photos from every CSUF 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.
