FULLERTON, Calif. – After advancing past UC Santa Barbara in a quarter finals thriller, the Titans head to UC Riverside for the Big West Tournament semifinals Saturday with kickoff at 7 p.m. PT.
QUICK HITS
•Cal State Fullerton hits the road for the Big West Conference Semifinals where they are 4-0 under Head Coach George Kuntz
•The Titans have made the conference tournament in all five seasons under Kuntz.
•Fullerton has beat UCSB at Harder Stadium in three of the five years since Kuntz arrived at Fullerton.
•UC Riverside and Fullerton have met in the Big West Tournament in two of the last four years and have won both matchups.
•For the second straight year, Ross McPhie was named the Big West All-Conference First Team.
•Robert Coronado is now tied for eighth all-time in the history of the program with 17 assists and was named to the conference first team alongside McPhie.
•Paul-Andre Guerin is now in sole possession of fifth all-time in the history of the program with 15 clean sheets.
•Guerin leads the nation in minutes played with 1866. The next closest goalkeeper is Mathijs Swaneveld of Virginia Tech at 1729.
•Fullerton's 44 wins in Kuntz's first four years since he arrived in 2015 is the most among Big West team's over the four year time period.
OPPONENT AND HISTORY
UC RIVERSIDE
7:00 p.m. | Saturday, Nov. 3 | UCR Soccer Stadium
The Titans and Highlanders will meet for the 41st time in the history of the two programs Saturday night. Fullerton leads the all-time matchup with a record of 20-11-9. The Titans are 9-5-5 all-time when playing on the road at UCR Soccer Stadium. Fullerton finished off the regular season against UC Riverside as the two teams ended in a 0-0 draw after double overtime.
TITANS TAKE DOWN GAUCHOS ON THE ROAD... AGAIN
In the past five season in the Big West Tournament the Titans have matched up with the Gauchos three times at Harder Stadium and have won all three matchups. Fullerton is 10-22 all-time at Harder Stadium but certainly have the Gauchos number in the postseason.
PERFECT PENALTY KICKS
For the second consecutive season the Titans advanced in the Big West Tournament with penalty kicks. Last season Fullerton won in the championship match against UC Davis in penalty kicks 4-3. Wednesday the Titans took down UC Santa Barbara on penalty kicks, out-scoring the Gauchos 5-3. In Both situations Fullerton didn't miss a single attempt.
TOURNAMENT BREAKDOWN
The Titans head into the Big West Tournament as the No. 6 seed with a 2-3-2 conference record. After defeating UC Santa Barbara in penalty kicks, the Titans move onto the semifinals where they take on the No. 2 seed UC Riverside. The winner of Saturday's matchup will face the winner of No. 5 UC Davis and No. 1 UC Irvine.
FIRST TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
For the second straight year, midfielder Ross McPhie was named to the Big West Conference First Team. McPhie recorded two goals and five assists on the season to give him nine points on the year. After a year off due to injuries, Coronado came back energized as he recorded one goal and a team-leading five assists to go along with McPhie.
SIX OTHER TITANS RECEIVE CONFERENCE HONORS
Aside from McPHie and Coronado who received first team honors, six other Titans were named on the all-conference list. Samuel Goni and Paul-Andre Guerin and Mark Hernandez were given second team honors after their strong performances this season while Zico Bailey and Edward Salazar were named to the all-freshman team.
CORONADO CLIMBS RECORD BOOK
Fifth-year senior Robert Coronado has recorded five assist this season, including two in the Titans last three matches of the season against UC Davis and Omaha, giving him 17 for his career, ranking him tied for eighth all-time in the history of the program. Coronado needs just one more assist to move into a tie for sixth all-time and two more to move into a tie for fifth all-time. Matt Bradbury holds the record with 29 assists.
SUPPORT THE TITANS!
Fans can purchase tickets for various Cal State Fullerton athletic events by visiting FullertonTitans.com/Tickets.The Athletic Ticket Office can also be contacted by phone at 657-278- 2783 or by emailat athletictixs@fullerton.edu. The Ticket Office is located at the Titan House off of Gymnasium Drive at theeastern end of the Intramural Fields and is open from 10 am – 4 pm PT, Monday – Friday.
FOLLOW THE TITANS!
Fans can keep up with the latest in Titan Athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook/FullertonTitans), Twitter (@FullertonTitans) and Instagram (FullertonTitans). In addition, the men's soccer team has established its own Twitter (@FullertonMSOC), and Instagram accounts (@fullertonmsoc).
