Sept. 7, 2008
Fullerton, Calif. - Manny Guzman's diving header on a long free kick by Sean Jarvis sailed into the net and gave Cal State Bakersfield a 3-2 overtime men's soccer victory Sunday night over the host Titans in the Cal State Fullerton Tournament.
The goal 6:10 into the first extra period capped a comback from a 2-0 deficit for the Roadrunners, who won for the first time in four matches. Fullerton fell to an unlucky 1-3 after hitting a post and the cross-bar with shots in the final 16 minutes of regulation.
Cal State Northridge won the tournament earlier Sunday with a 2-0 win over UNLV.
Wayne Lampart assisted on both CSUB goals, its first after three shutout losses. The first came in the 33rd minute of the first half as Lampart's cross was volleyed past Titan goalkeeper Trevor Whiddon from about 25 yards out by Towa Manda. Lampart then looped a pass to Oscar Coppieters who re-directed it past Whiddon in the 68th minute.
Celso Alvarez had given the Titans a 2-0 lead. His first goal came in the fourth minute when he headed a shot into an empty net after goalkeeper Steve Trojanoski misplayed the ball. Alvarez' second score of the match and season came from the goal mouth on a cross from Ryan Kaylor, who had taken a long through ball from Omar Tena.
CSF's Mario Alvarez hit the far post with a shot with about 15 minutes to play in regulation and Celso Alvarez hit the middle of the cross bar with less than 4 minutes remaining. The Titans also thought they should have gotten a penalty kick in the late going when Kaylor was taken down from behind but he was ruled to be just outside the penalty box. They also lost a goal in the first half to an apparent offsides call.
"Records are very misleading at this point in the season. I give full credit to Bakersfield for the spirit and determination they showed in coming back from 0-2 away from home," said CSF Head Coach Bob Ammann. "I don't want to take anything away from any of our other opponents, but I feel Bakersfield is the best team that we have played to date. They were very unlucky against Northridge to have to play short the whole game Friday and it had a tremendous affect on the game.
"I feel the turning point of the game was our third goal that was disallowed. The explanation I was given by the official differs from what the video shows. If it's 3-0 I believe the game is over, but they responded with a nice goal to cut the lead to 2-1 and take a lot of momentum going into the half.
"We have a very good team and these lessons, although tough to take, will help us a lot as we continue through our season and into Big West Conference play."
Fullerton goes on the road for its next six matches beginning with a weekend tournament in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, when the Titans will face Virginia Tech and host Wake Forest.
In the first men's game Sunday...
Cameron Sims and Moy Gomez scored goals and goalkeeper Kevin Guppy didn't have to make a single save Sunday afternoon as Cal State Northridge blanked UNLV, 2-0, to win the championship of the Cal State Fullerton men's soccer tournament.
Each team came out of the match with a 3-1 record. CSUN defeated Cal State Bakersfield, 3-0, on Friday.
Both Matador goals came as the result of excellent passes. Luis Smith sent a long through ball that Sims volleyed about waist high softly around UNLV goalkeeper Hawk Mummey in the 17th minute. Gomez converted a pair of sharp crossing passes from Camilo Rojas and Dylan Riley to score on a diving header.
UNLV managed only 6 shots, none on goal.