IRVINE, Calif. – The Cal State Fullerton men's soccer program continues to add to its list of prestigious conference honors as eight Titans earned All-Big West honors, the conference announced this morning.
Alex Heilmann and Ricardo Covarrubias headline the all-conference honors for the Titans as they were named to the All-Big West first team. The Fullerton duo becomes the first pair of Titans to be named to the conference first team since 2012.
Heilmann finished the regular season tied in the conference for most goals scored (10), second in game-winning goals (3) and points (21) and first in goals per game (0.53). Covarrubias helped the Fullerton defense collect four shutouts this season while having the third-lowest conference team goals against average (1.03) in the Big West.
Sophomore Ross McPhie earned his first career All-Big West honor as he was named to the second team after a strong season in the Fullerton midfield. McPhie was key to the Titan attack all season long by laying beautiful crosses into the box to finish the season with two assists and two goals. The sophomore scored the game-winning goal at San Francisco to give Fullerton its first road victory of the season on Sept. 16.
For the third consecutive season, a Titan freshman was named to the All-Big West Freshman team as Rei Dorwart received the conference honor. The forward currently has two assists and seven shots on goal in his freshman campaign.
Ruben Alvarez, Ronaldo Pineda, Robert Coronado and David Elias each received All-Big West honorable mention nods. The senior Alvarez earns his first career conference honor after manning the midfield for most of the season and scoring his first goal of the year in the conference finale at UC Irvine to get the Titans a valuable road point.
The remaining three Titans (Coronado, Pineda and Elias) each received their second career All-Big West honorable mention honors after strong seasons. Coronado played in every game this season and was a model of consistency for Fullerton as he dished out five assists (fifth in the conference), netted one goal and put 15 shots on goal.
Pineda was the leading shot taker for Fullerton in his sophomore year as he put up 39 shots and recorded two goals and one assist. The midfielder scored the goal of the season for the Titans when he netted a 40-yard rocket at Vermont.
Titan goalkeeper David Elias has been behind the net for nine matches so far this season and has made a huge impact on the Fullerton defense. The Huntington Beach native leads the conference in goals against average (1.01), has two clean sheets and 23 saves. He also made the save of the year when he made a diving save on a UC Riverside penalty to secure a 1-0 win for Fullerton at Titan Stadium.
The Titans will get back to work tomorrow as they take on San Diego in a non-conference match to close out the regular season before battling UC Davis at Titan Stadium in the first round of the Big West Men's Soccer Tournament at 7 p.m. PT on Saturday.
Tickets for the first round match against the Aggies on Saturday can be purchased here.
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