FULLERTON, Calif. – The reigning Big West Conference Tournament Champions had a record-breaking year. The Titans finished the regular season fourth in the division with a record of 11-5-3 (3-3-1).
The program made conference history as the first team qualify for its sixth consecutive Big West Conference Tournament after their redemption win over UC Irvine in the semifinal. With the win over the Matadors on Nov. 5, the Titans progressed to their eighth all-time NCAA appearance where faced off against No. 11 Pepperdine in Malibu, Calif. and lost 1-0 in the opening round of 64.
Fullerton went undefeated the first five games of the season before suffering a 2-1 loss from Utah in double overtime. The Titans were shut out only three times for the season and managed to shut the opponent out nine times. At home, the Titans went 8-1-1.
The Titans offense was on a roll with 37 goals scored, and out-cornered their opponent 160-97. Sophomore Atlanta Primus led the Titans with six goals and eight assists. Fullerton had a three-way tie for total points in a season with 22, Atlanta Primus, Sarah Fajnor and Samantha Koemans shared the top of the leaderboards. Sarah Fajnor scored six goals and totaled five assists. Koemans had a breakout senior year scoring five career goals and notching five assists.
In the backfield, the defense remained anchored with Morgan Bertsch between the posts. Bertsch had a phenomenal senior campaign in her first year as starting goalkeeper. Her senior year was filled with accolades honoring her career that landed her in the program record book. Bertsch secured one of the lowest goals against average percentage, .75 which puts her in fourth place in program history. She was honored with Big West Co-Goalkeeper of the Year, Tournament MVP, and First Team All-Conference. Bertsch was also honored twice as Big West Athlete of the Week.
Nano Oronoz also made a huge contribution to the Titans backline and was honored with First-Team All-Conference and All-Region third team. Oronoz also notched a goal in the Big West Championship game against CSUN.
The Titans also led the conference with most returning seniors with nine. The veteran presence was strong as seven of the nine seniors had at least one goal scored for the season. Seniors Sarah Fajnor and Kaycee Hoover received Big West Athlete of the Week honors for the week of 9/11 and 9/25. Hoover would kick the fourth PK which would result in the winning of the Big West Conference Tournament Championship.
The Titans are set to host their Winter Youth Camp on Jan. 3rd-5th. For camp registration please follow: http://www.totalcamps.com/FULLERTONSOCCERACADEMY/home
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