FULLERTON, Calif. – The Cal State Fullerton women's soccer team, winners of three consecutive Big West Conference titles, returns to action on Friday in the team's season opener, hosting Liberty as part of the Fullerton Tournament Presented by Embassy Suites-Brea N. Orange County.
The first game of the day will feature UC Riverside and George Washington at 5 p.m., followed by the Titans and Liberty at 7:30 p.m. at Titan Stadium.
Fullerton, winners of the Big West regular season title in 2012 and 2014, as well as Big West Tournament championships in 2013 and 2014, was selected to finish third in the 2015 Big West Coaches' Preseason Poll, receiving three first-place votes. Seniors Morgan Batcheller, Christina Burkenroad and Rebecca Wilson were named to the preseason all-conference team.
FullertonTitans.com, sat down with ninth-year head coach Demian Brown to discuss some of the biggest questions about his 2015 squad.
FullertonTitans.com: The Titans return the majority of their scoring from last season, but what changes or additions can fans expect in personnel, strategy or development?
Demian Brown: In regard to personnel, we have had some really talented freshmen show some very good things in the first week of training camp, so adding players that will continue to keep our level of play high is something that we are really excited about. In regard to strategy and tactics, we've really enjoyed the way that we have played over the last couple of seasons, and we envision ourselves not changing much in that essence. Our returning players are playing at a very high level, so we look forward to their consistent growth over the course of the season. Obviously Rebecca Wilson, Christina Burkenroad and Connie Caliz are people in the attack that will have a lot of influence on our team. Defensively, Jennifer Stuart in goal and Morgan Batcheller and Jazzmin Mancilla on our backline, are the three players that are most important to how we defend. With all those pieces out together, we think it's starting to form a pretty nice picture.
FullertonTitans.com: There are some spots up for grabs in the middle of the field on both the backline and midfield, can you give Titan fans some insight into your expectations for the middle of the formation.
Demian Brown: Kaycee Hoover had a really good second half of her freshman year followed up by an outstanding spring season. We look to Kaycee to really solidify a role that was occupied by our senior captain last year in Chelsey Patterson. Kaycee has big shoes to fill, but we think she is already off to a great start in regard. At the center back position, we are very happy with our redshirt freshman Lindsay Stasinis. We think that she is doing extremely well, and also we have, for the first time in a long time, an international player in Amanda Larsson who has made a really good transition from Sweden to Southern California, and we anticipate her doing good things and being able to solidify or bolster us in both the holding midfield and center back positions.
FullertonTitans.com: For two years the team has made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament, what do you do as a coach to keep the players motivated as well as challenge for the next step?
Demian Brown: One of our goals, obviously, and it's a goal every year that we set out with, is to do well in our non-conference and conference to put us in a position to represent the Big West in the NCAA Tournament. One of the big challenges that we put forth to women this year was the opportunity to get into the NCAA Tournament and then proceed and get past that first round, which is something that we have had a hard time doing. The challenges through our training sessions and the focus and the motivation through all the things that we go through now, I'm hopeful is putting us in a position, when we get to that time in the season, that we are then prepared to make a bigger run.
FullertonTitans.com: Early in the program's history, Cal State Fullerton hosted a yearly tournament and that has returned this season. Is that something fans can expect on a yearly basis?
Demian Brown: It is something that we are really excited about. The opportunity to bring in out-of-region teams, teams that we wouldn't typically play, is really exciting for us and hopefully for our fans as well. This year we have two outstanding programs from the East Coast, followed by the year after with Oregon and Alabama-Birmingham. I think putting on a tournament like that will help us in our national ranking and will also give us an opportunity to see some different soccer that's being played around the country.
SEASON TICKETS
Women's Soccer Season Ticket – a savings of 30%
Adult/Senior: $63
Youth: $45
Season ticket includes exhibition game
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Women's Soccer Single Game | Exhibition Games/General Admission/Premium Games^
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Senior/Faculty Staff*: $5/$7/$8
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Groups of 20 or more**: $5/$6/$6
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^Men's and women's soccer doubleheaders on Sept. 4 and Sept. 27
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