Cal State Fullerton at UC Santa Barbara
Sunday, Oct. 16 | 2 p.m.
Santa Barbara, Calif. | Harder Stadium
TV/Live Stream: BigWest.TV
Live Stats: FullertonTitans.com
Series Record: Cal State Fullerton Leads 14-10-1
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton sits near the top of the Big West Conference standings going into the third weekend of conference play and will look to stay there as the Titans travel to Harder Stadium to take on UC Santa Barbara.
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QUICK HITS
• Cal State Fullerton split its two matches last week, dropping a 3-2 decision at UC Davis and then edging Long Beach State 1-0 Sunday night at Titan Stadium.
• All six of Fullerton's victories this season have come at home.
• Fullerton held a 2-0 lead at the half at UC Davis but the Aggies scored three times in a 14-minute span in the second half to get the win, just their second all-time against the Titans.
• An own goal in the 18th minute was the only score of the game in the Titans 1-0 win over Long Beach State.
• Fullerton has now posted three shutouts on the season, two for goalkeeper Jennifer Stuart and one combined between Stuart and Morgan Bertsch.
• The Titans have allowed 37 shots in the last two games after allowing an average of 12.25 shots per game in the previous 12 matches this season.
• Head coach Demian Brown is in his 10th season at the helm of the Titans. Cal State Fullerton is 90-83-25 under Brown. In conference play, the Titans are 43-28-6 under Brown with four Big West regular season championships and four Big West Tournament titles, including an active streak of three straight.
IN THE POLLS
The Titans and Gauchos are both unranked in this week's NSCAA Top-25 poll and NSCAA West Region poll.
OPPONENT AND HISTORY
At UC Santa Barbara
2 p.m. | Sunday, Oct. 16 | Harder Stadium
• The Titans head to Harder Stadium to face the Gauchos, a place Fullerton has had a lot of success. In 10 matches there, the Titans are 6-3-1 against UCSB.
• Overall, the Titans and Gauchos have tangled 25 times with Fullerton holding a 14-10-1 advantage, although each team has a better record at the other's home stadium. The Gauchos have seven wins at Titan Stadium compared to just three at home against Fullerton.
• The Gauchos hold the best overall record in the conference. They are 10-2-2 going into the weekend and have outscored their opponents 26-11. They have also outshot their opponents 191-118 and posted a .445 shot on goal percentage.
• Despite the overall record, UCSB is currently sixth in the Big West with a 1-1-1 record and four points. The Gauchos have played three times in conference, defeating Hawai'i, 3-2, in the opener on Oct. 2 at Harder Stadium but falling to CSUN 1-0 in overtime on Oct. 9. The Gauchos played to a 1-1 tie against Cal Poly on Thursday.
• The Gauchos are led offensively by Amanda Ball, whose 10 goals rank first in the Big West. Mallory Hromatko and Shaelan Murison are tied for second on the team with four goals apiece.
• Goalkeeper Brittney Rogers has played in 12 matches for the Gauchos this season while Jacqueline Caginia has logged five appearances this season. Rogers has posted six clean sheets and a 6-2-2 overall record while Caginia is undefeated at 4-0-0.
THREE-PEAT
Sarah Fajnor scored the first goal in the Titans' 3-2 loss at UC Davis. It was her third goal in as many matches and placed her in a tie for the team's goal-scoring lead. Fajnor found the back of the net for the first time against UC Riverside on Sept. 30 and then put away a penalty kick in a win over Cal Poly on Oct. 2.
LALA MEANS I SCORED ON YOU
Tala Haddad currently leads the team with nine points. She's tallied three goals and three assists, both career highs. She scored her only other goal as a freshman in 2014 and surpassed her previous career high of two assists, which she set in 2015 in 19 matches played. In her career, Haddad has 14 points with four goals and six assists.
STUART BACK IN ACTION
Redshirt senior and reigning Big West Conference Goalkeeper of the Year Jennifer Stuart suffered a minor injury to her elbow during warm ups prior to Fullerton's Oct. 2 match against Cal poly. She missed the match at UC Davis but returned in time to shutout Long Beach State, 1-0, on Oct. 9. She posted a season-high seven saves to log her second clean sheet of the season and the 15th of her career, which ranks third all-time in CSF history. She is now just one back of second-place Lindsay Maricic (16, 2010-13), who Stuart backed up when she arrived at Cal State Fullerton. Stuart has also recorded 31 wins in her Titans career, which ranks second on the Titans all-time record book behind Karen Bardsley, who won 47 games in her Cal State Fullerton career.
THE ANCHOR
Sophomore Lindsay Stasinis has been a constant on the Fullerton back line this season. The Titans have played a total of 1,271 minutes and 49 seconds this year. Stasinis has been on the field for 1,264 of those minutes. She has played the full match in 13 of the team's games this season, with the only exception coming at Georgia on Aug. 28 when she played 82 of 90 minutes.
THE LAST DEFENSE
Morgan Bertsch logged a team season-high eight saves in Fullerton's Oct. 6 match at UC Davis. It was one shy of her career high.
CALIZ HOLDING DOWN THE MIDFIELD
Junior Connie Caliz was a preseason Big West All-Conference team selection prior to the start of the year. She has one goal and one assist so far but has been a key cog in Fullerton's midfield. Caliz has started in all 14 matches and played 1,216 minutes. She's played a full match eight times this year including the last two matches.
PRIMUS OUT
Freshman Atlanta Primus has started all four conference matches for Fullerton at forward but will be unavailable Sunday after drawing two yellow cards and a red in the Titans' 1-0 victory over Long Beach State.
ROADHOUSE BLUES
The Titans' next three conference matches are away from Titan Stadium and the road has not been kind to Fullerton this season. The Titans have lost all six road matches they've played this season and have been outscored 11-2. They had been shutout in five straight road games before scoring twice at UC Davis on Oct. 6.
BUILDING ON DEFENSE
The Titans defense allowed more than two goals in a match for the first time this season when the Titans fell, 3-2, at UC Davis on Oct. 6. It was just the fourth time the defense allowed multiple goals in a single match. The Titans defenders have also made sure to get in the line of fire this year, posting 42 blocked shots on the year so far.