2016 Big West All-Conference Team
IRVINE, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton had six players earn postseason recognition as the Big West All-Conference Team was released Wednesday.
The Titans had four players earn an All-Conference Team selection or Honorable Mention to go along with two selections on the All-Freshman team.
Junior Sarah Fajnor earned her first career selection to the Big West All-Conference team, earning the team's only First-Team selection. Fajnor scored six goals in her final eight matches to lead the team. Her six goals in conference were also the most goals scored by a player in the Big West. She led the team with 14 points overall as she also tallied two assists. She scored the game-winning goal in Sunday's overtime win against UC Irvine on Sunday to lift the Titans to the No. 3 seed at the Big West Conference Tournament. It was the first game-winning goal of her career.
Midfielder Connie Caliz was named to the Big West All-Conference Second Team for the second consecutive year. This season, Caliz has tallied one goal and three assists this season, starting in the midfield in all of Fullerton's 18 matches this season. She has played a total of 1,565 minutes this season to lead the team and has logged the full 90 minutes in 10 of those matches. She was also on the field for 98 of 102 minutes in the team's longest match of the year, a 1-0 double overtime loss at UNLV on Sept. 18. She has not played fewer than 80 minutes in a match this season.
Junior Tala Haddad was also named to the Big West All-Conference Second Team after finishing second on the Titans with nine points overall. She scored three goals and dished out three assists on the season, playing in all 18 matches while making 17 starts. The junior began the season in the midfield but, following a season-ending injury to Jazzmin Mancilla, Haddad stepped up and filled the hole on the back line to become the team's starting left back. She logged a total of 1,292 minutes on the field and played the full match in the team's final four games of the season and seven times overall.
Senior Jennifer Stuart earned Honorable Mention this season after winning the Goalkeeper of the Year award in 2015. This year, Stuart has posted a 6-8-0 overall record with three shutouts and one combined shutout with Morgan Bertsch. Stuart played in 15 matches this season, making 14 starts and has logged 1,300 minutes and 53 seconds in net.
She has tallied 55 saves on the season including a season-high seven in a 1-0 win over Long Beach State on Oct. 9. Stuart logged the 32nd victory of her Titans career on Sunday against UC Irvine, which is the second most all time in Fullerton history. She has made 194 saves in her career, ranking fourth all-time in the CSF record book.
Freshmen Atlanta Primus and Savannah Sloniger rounded out the Titans selections as they were each placed on the Big West All-Freshman Team. Primus played in 10 matches this season, making eight starts at forward. She scored her first career goal on Oct. 23 in Fullerton's 3-0 win at Hawai'i. Meanwhile, Sloniger was a steady presence on the Fullerton back line all season, appearing in 17 of 18 matches and making 13 starts. She had one assist on the season but her value came on defense as she logged 1,227 minutes as a defender for Fullerton, playing a full match on seven occasions including a four-game stretch from Sept. 18-Oct. 2 where she never came off the field including playing 102 minutes at UNLV.
The Titans will look to make history this week as they look to claim their fourth straight Big West Conference Tournament victory. The No. 3 Titans face No. 2-seed UC Irvine Thursday with the winner of that match taking on the winner between No. 1 CSUN and No. 4 Long Beach State on Sunday afternoon.