Fullerton Clinches No. 1 Seed in South Division Despite Loss

Fullerton Clinches No. 1 Seed in South Division Despite Loss

FULLERTON, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton fell to UC Irvine 2-1 Saturday night at Titan Stadium, however, the Titans locked up the No. 1 seed in the South Division and co-South Division Champions.

"We have one goal, we're two games away from doing what we dreamed of. This was one of our goals to win the South. We didn't want to win the division with a loss, we wanted to put a stamp on it, but we'll take it."

UC Riverside earned a 2-1 victory over CSUN Saturday night to leave both the Titans (9-7-3, 4-4-2) and Matadors (9-8-2, 4-4-2) finishing the season with 14 points. Because Fullerton secured a 1-0 win over CSUN on Wednesday it holds the tiebreaker to give it the No. 1 seed in the Big West Tournament and a first round bye.

The Titans scratched first in the match with a goal from Samuel Goni in the 22nd minute on the assist from Sam Molz. Goni has now scored a team-high eight goals on the season and has scored at least one goal in four of the Titans last five games. The Spaniard is tied for second in the Big West in goals scored.

Both teams had their fair amount of chances to put the ball in the net. The Titans finished the match with 10 shots while UC Irvine racked up 12. Fullerton earned six corner kicks to UC Irvine's three corners. Once again, both teams played a very physical match, the Anteaters tallied 14 fouls on the evening while the Titans had 12.

UC Irvine answered back in the 35th minute on a goal from Ivan Canales to tie the game at 1-1 on an assist from Giovanni Godoy. The Anteaters then took a lead in the 54th minute on a penalty kick by Godoy for his his conference-leading 13th goal of the season.

The game got very physical in the second half as there was six yellow cards given out and 17 fouls. Fullerton had a man advantage for the final 11 minutes of the game after Mario Ortiz picked up his second yellow card.

Clinching the No.1 seed in the South Division earns Fullerton a bye in the conference tournament. The Titans will return to the pitch Saturday Nov. 4 when they host the winner of No. 2 seed from the North and the No. 3 seed from the South who will square off Nov. 1.

 

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