David Elias' save vs. UC Riverside
FULLERTON, Calif. – After dominant performances against Cal State Northridge and UC Riverside, Cal State Fullerton goalkeeper David Elias was named Big West Men's Soccer Defensive Athlete of the Week, the conferenced announced this afternoon.
Elias becomes only the fourth Titan in program history to be named Athlete of the Week twice in their career, joining Brent Whitfield (3), Hector Orellana (2) and Steve George (2).
The Huntington Beach native receives the weekly honor after allowing only one goal in 200 minutes this past week to give him a goals against average of 0.45. Elias also made the save of the year in conference play against UC Riverside on Saturday night.
After a Jacob Perez goal to give Fullerton the lead in the 76th minute, the Highlanders were able to draw a foul in the box and were granted a penalty kick by the center official.
UC Riverside's Tyler Miguel lined up to take the penalty but Elias read the shot all the way as he dove to his right and batted the ball away to make the save, maintain the shutout and secure the eventually victory over the unbeaten Highlanders.
The shutout win over the Highlanders puts the Titan goalkeeper at 15 career clean sheets, which means Elias currently sits only four shutouts behind Fullerton's Mike Ammann (19) from tying the career shutouts record.
Up next for Elias and the Titans is a matchup with UC Irvine at Titan Stadium on Wednesday at 7 p.m. PT and a battle on the road against UC Riverside on Saturday at 7 p.m. PT.
For more information on the Fullerton men's soccer squad, follow us on Twitter (@CSUFMensSoccer) and like our Facebook page (Cal St. Fullerton Men's Soccer).