Oct. 4, 2009
RIVERSIDE, CA - Cal State Fullerton freshman Brisa Gonzalez netted her second goal of the season in the 60th minute and the Fullerton defense held host UC Riverside to just nine shots on the night in a 1-0 Titans victory in the Big West Conference opener for both teams on Sunday night in Riverside, Calif.
Fullerton improved to 3-5-3 overall and 1-0 in league play with the win - its first since defeating Hawaii by the same score on Sept. 16 at Titan Stadium. The Titans are now 3-1-3 in their last seven matches since opening the year 0-4.
The Highlanders fell to 5-4-3 overall with the loss, opening conference play at 0-1.
Sophomore Casey Volk started the run for the only goal of the match, stealing the ball in UCR's defensive third and slotting a pass to Gonzalez on the left, who beat Highlander keeper Jessica White one-on-one for the only score of the match.
The Titans' offense, which had been held to single digits in the shot column in nine of its 10 previous matches, exploded for a season-high 17 shots on the night led by three apiece from Gonzalez and sophomore Stacey Fox.
Junior goalkeeper Shannon Simpson netted her second shutout of the week and her third of the season, making three saves on the night and getting some help from her defense, which saved a ball off the line in the 16th minute to keep the match scoreless. The clean sheet with Fullerton's fourth of the season - one more than all of last year.
White made six saves in net for UCR in the loss while Ashley Parks and Deborah Musa each had two shots to lead the offense.
Cal State Fullerton continues conference play next weekend with a trip to the Central Coast for a pair of contests against UC Santa Barbara on Friday (Oct. 9) at 7 p.m. and Cal Poly on Sunday (Oct. 11) at 1 p.m.