Oct. 28, 2009
Fullerton, Calif. - Amani Walker scored a hat trick with three virtually identical goals Wednesday night to pace UC Irvine to a 4-1 Big West Conference men's soccer victory at Cal State Fullerton.
Irvine improved to 12-4 overall and 5-2 in t he Big West with its sixth consecutive victory while the Titans fell to 7-8-2 and 3-4-1.
Walker also assisted on the Anteaters' other goal for a 7-point evening.
Each of Walker's goals came from just inside the 18-yard line off perfectly placed and timed crosses. Irving Garcia fed Walker slightly left of center for the first score in the game's fifth minute. Twelve minutes later it was Everett Pitts with a feed from the right side to Walker in the middle of the field. Walker's third goal made it 4-0 when he took another cross from the right side to the middle, this time from Kevin Santora in the 69th minute.
Santora scored UCI's third goal in the 55th minute. Jimmy Turner threw the ball in from near the end line and Walker, with his back to the goal, flicked it out to where Santora could punch it past Pablo Gonzalez, who played the second half in the Fullerton net in relief of Trevor Whiddon.
The Titans, who outshot UCI 21-7, avoided a shutout when Oscar Aguero scored on a penalty kick in the 78th minute.
"Disappointing result, especially when you look at the stats," said CSF Head Coach Bob Ammann. "Unfortunately, in soccer the only stat that matters is the score. On a positive note, we held them to only 7 shots while creating 21.
"The good thing is that as disappointing as this is, we are still 3 points clear in the final playoff spot. A win against Northridge on Wednesday will surely guarantee us a spot in the post-season tournament."
Victor Chinchilla (81 minutes) and Elmer Avelar (9 minutes) combined on the shutout with a total of 7 saves. Whiddon had none while Gonzalez had two for the Titans, who are idle until a match a week from today at Cal State Northridge. UCI hosts UC Santa Barbara on Saturday night.