Nov. 11, 2007
FULLERTON, CA - After 110 minutes of scoreless soccer, Cal State Fullerton junior goalkeeper and tournament Most Valuable Player Shayla Sabin saved Whitney Sisler's penalty kick attempt to give the host and top-seeded Titans their third consecutive Big West Conference Tournament title, 4-3, over Cal Poly on Sunday afternoon at Titan Stadium.
Fullerton moved to 12-7-2 overall on the year and earned the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. The Titans become the first program to win three consecutive Big West Tournament titles and will make their fourth all-time appearance in the NCAA's next weekend.
The 64-team field for the NCAA Tournament will be announced on Monday evening (Nov. 12) at 5 p.m. PST on ESPNews.
Cal Poly finished its season with an 8-9-3 overall record.
The Titans made their first three PK attempts by Stacey Thompson, Danielle Bitonti, and Christina Murillo while the Mustangs made two of their first three as Leah Morales and Erica Zumbahlen converted on their chances while Kaleena Andruss missed wide.
Goalkeeper Alli Tramel, who finished with five saves on the afternoon in the run of play, then stepped up huge for Cal Poly in net, making saves on successive attempts by Casey Schostag and Tamara Dewey while Sharon Day converted for the Mustangs to tie the score at 3-3.
After Ashley Vallis missed high on what would have been the game-winner, Nicole Scheid stepped in and made her shot on the sixth attempt of the afternoon.
That brought Sisler to the spot, who aimed to Sabin's left, but the Titans' keeper got a hand on the shot and pushed it wide to end the match.
Fullerton outshot Cal Poly, 11-7, including 5-1 in the two overtimes, but could not find the back of the net. Scheid led the Titans with three shots, all on frame, while Zumbahlen had a pair to lead the Mustangs.
Cal State Fullerton improved to 5-3 all-time in Big West Tournament matches and 3-0 in the championship game and will take a 3-3 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament into action next week.
Sabin joins Lauryn Welch (2005) and Kristen Boujos (2006) as Big West Tournament MVP's - the most of any other school in the history of the tournament.