FULLERTON, Calif. – After going 10 matches without scoring multiple goals, the Cal State Fullerton men's soccer squad exploded for three in a 3-1 victory over UC Irvine on Wednesday night at Titan Stadium.
"It's a local derby and there is so much blood there because half of those guys I recruited and I worked with that staff for many years," coach George Kuntz said. "All those guys I know very well, so everybody is on edge. I had butterflies since this morning like I was going to play. I think the guys felt that and they got a little bit of pressure and tension but I think the good news was that we were resilient."
With the win, the Titans move to 7-8-1 overall and 3-3-1 in conference with four matches remaining in Big West play. Fullerton will have a shot to regain the top spot in the South Division on Saturday with a win at UC Riverside and either a CSUN tie or loss.
Titan Alex Heilmann continued to be the anchor to the Fullerton attack on Wednesday as the senior nailed a header inside the right post off a beautiful cross from high school teammate Robert Coronado to put CSUF up 1-0 in the ninth minute.
"I feel like we played pretty well," Heilmann said. "The coaches prepared us pretty well for this game to play against their (UC Irvine's) formation and style of play. I feel that coming into South Division play we've really turned our team around and are moving forward."
With the momentum early, Fullerton was keeping the pressure on UC Irvine as Heilmann continued to cause problems in the box for the Anteaters. The senior came close to adding another goal in the first half twice but neither chance found the back of the net.
To close out the first 45 minutes, Ronaldo Pineda found some room in the box and put up a nice strike but the sophomore's effort sailed high.
At half, shots were even between both teams at four a piece and the only advantage the Titans had was a 2-1 margin in corner kicks.
In the 47th minute, Ross McPhie found himself in a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper but a UC Irvine defender had a rough challenge on the sophomore inside the box and the Titans were awarded a penalty.
Pineda lined up to take the kick and the Santa Ana native had UC Irvine's Elliot Farmer beat but his shot went high and the lead remained at one for Fullerton.
Six minutes later, McPhie continued to cause havoc along the flank as he laid a beautiful cross through the box that found Titan defender Corentin Ohlmann who placed a cheeky shot past Farmer to extend the Titan advantage to 2-0.
"He said he had to travel all the way from France to come a score a goal," coach Kuntz said. "Honestly, we were talking about him being out of positon after that goal but it was perfect."
The Anteaters responded quickly to Fullerton's goal as Thomas Janjigian headed the ball into the back of the net for his fifth goal of the season to cut the Titan lead to 2-1 in the 55th.
With UC Irvine back in it, the Titans were seeking a third goal to secure the victory over the Anteaters and they found it in the 83rd minute.
After Heilmann almost netted his 10th goal of the year, Coronado took a short corner from Nicolo D'Amato and the junior put a pass right into the center of the box were it deflected off Ohlmann and found Oscar Torres who put the ball into the net.
"It was so good to see Oscar Torres finally break through and see other guys (like Ohlmann) score goals because we've expected them to get goals," coach Kuntz said.
The goal was Torres' first of his career and went on to secure the 3-1 victory over the Anteaters.
Riding a two-match winning streak at home, the Titans travel to UC Riverside on Saturday for the second and final regular season meeting against the Highlanders this season. The match will begin at 7 p.m. PT and will be played at UC Riverside Soccer Stadium.
"We know how they (UCR) play and they know how we play, so it's just going to be a battle for 90 minutes so we just mentally have to bring it and be ready to go from the start," Heilmann said.
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