Oct. 14, 2010
FULLERTON, CA - Cal State Fullerton junior Casey Volk finished with a goal and an assist on Thursday night, including the game-winning strike in the 88th minute, to help lift the host Titans to a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over UC Riverside in front of 380 fans at Titan Stadium.
Volk's third assist of the year led to the game-tying score while her third goal of the season with just over two minutes to play in regulation put Fullerton (5-9 overall, 2-1 in the Big West Conference) ahead for good.
UC Riverside (1-11-2, 0-4), which entered the night with only two goals as a team in 2010, tallied its third of the year in the 71st minute as a ball off the foot of a well-defended Melisa Escamilla took a wild spin straight up in the air, shaved the crossbar, and rolled in off the fingertips of the Fullerton keeper for the 1-0 advantage. The score snapped a streak of 297:28 without a goal for the Highlanders dating back to a 2-1 loss to UC Santa Barbara on Oct. 1 as Escamilla netted her second goal of the season.
Senior Christina Murillo brought the Titans back just six minutes later, launching a rocket from the top of the box into the lower left corner to tie the match. It was her seventh goal of the year and the 18th score of her career, moving her into sole possession of sixth place on the school's all-time list. The senior midfielder also led all players with five shots on the night and moved her career total to 95 overall, putting her into ninth place overall on the career chart.
That set the stage for Volk's game-winner as junior Caitlin Mellano's free kick from the left side found the head of Volk, who headed it down into the lower right corner to clinch the victory. It was Volk's third game-winning strike of the year after also clinching victories over UNC Greensboro and San Diego State.
Fullerton outshot UC Riverside, 15-4, including a 10-1 advantage in shots on goal. Ten different Titans had at least one shot on the night while Escamilla and Deborah Musa accounted for the Highlanders' shots with two apiece.
Jessica White made eight saves in net for UCR, including five in the second half.
Cal State Fullerton continues its four-match homestand on Sunday (Oct. 17) at 6 p.m. as the Titans welcome Long Beach State to Titan Stadium.