Sept. 29, 2010
FULLERTON, CA -
Complete Release in PDF Format
KICK OFF: Cal State Fullerton's brutal six-match road trip comes to an end this weekend as the Titans (3-6 overall) close out non-conference play this weekend with a pair of matches. Fullerton, which has not played a home contest since Sept. 5, travels to Los Angeles on Friday evening (Oct. 1) for a 4 p.m. match-up with Loyola Marymount before returning to Titan Stadium on Sunday night (Oct. 3) for a 6 p.m. kick-off with San Diego.
BE A FOLLOWER: Fans can keep up with the latest in Titans athletics by following us on Facebook (CSUFAthletics), Twitter (@CSUFAthletics) and Vimeo.com (vimeo.com/fullertontitans). In addition, the women's soccer team has its own Twitter; get the inside scoop at @CSUF_WSoccer.
"CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?": Cal State Fullerton's match this Sunday against San Diego can be heard live over the Internet at www.FullertonTitans.com thanks to a partnership with Stretch Internet. Veteran soccer broadcaster Mike Martinez will have the call live from Titan Stadium. To access the links, click on the headphones icon in the upper right-hand corner of the homepage.
"CAN YOU SEE ME NOW?": Thanks to a partnership between the Big West Conference and the CBS College Sports Network, live video of select Cal State Fullerton women's soccer home and road contests will be streamed live over the Internet via the BigWestTV platform. A monthly subscription of \$9.95 or an annual subscription of \$79.95 delivers exclusive coverage to you. For more information, please visit www.BigWest.org/TV.
IN THE POLLS: Neither Cal State Fullerton, LMU, nor San Diego are ranked in the top 25 entering this week's match-ups, but the Toreros are amonst those receiving votes in the Sept. 27 Soccer Times poll.
ABOUT THE LIONS: Loyola Marymount enters the weekend with a 7-3 overall record, splitting their last two contests with a 2-0 win over Arizona and a 2-0 loss at Northern Arizona... the Lions are 5-1 at Sullivan Field this season, winning their last three straight since a 1-0 loss to then-No. 3 Notre Dame on Sept. 12... Tawni Martino leads LMU in scoring with six goals an dtwo assists while Nickey Ha has also found the back of the net three times... Six other players have scored goals for the Lions, who have outscored the opposition, 15-7... Brittany Jagger has played every minute of LMU's 10 matches, posting a 0.70 goals against average and 50 saves (.877 save percentage) while posting five shutouts.
ABOUT THE TOREROS: San Diego enters the weekend with a 5-4-2 overall record with a match on Friday afternoon (Oct. 1) at USC prior to heading to Orange County to take on the Titans... the Toreros have lost two straight entering the week, falling at No. 11 UCLA on Sept. 24 and droopping a 1-0 heartbreaker at Cal State Northridge on Monday (Sept. 27)... Stephanie Ochs leads the team in scoring with five goals and a pair of assists while three of her teammates have found the back of the net multiple times... Courtney Parsons has played all 11 games in net, posting a 0.73 goals against average and 48 saves (.857 save percentage) to go with four shutouts.
SERIES RECORDS: The series between the Titans and Lions is all even at 6-6-1, but the two teams haven't met since 2007... the Lions came out on top in that match with a 2-1 overtime win at Titan Stadium on Sept. 20 to snap a three-match winning streak in the series by the Titans... Fullerton is 3-3 all-time against LMU at home... the Titans lead the scoring in the series with the Lions, 20-17... San Diego leads the all-time series with Cal State Fullerton, 8-4, having won the last three-straight meetings... the Toreros won last year's match-up, 2-0, at the USD Nike Classic in San Diego on Sept. 6... Tthe Toreros also posted wins in 2007 (1-0 in Fullerton) and 2006 (2-1 in double overtime in San Diego)... USD leads the all-time scoring in the series, 33-14.
CONFERENCE CALL: Cal State Fullerton is a combined 20-33-4 (.386) all-time against the West Coast Conference... the Titans are winless in their last four meetings (0-3-1) against current members of the league dating back to a 2-0 win over Saint Mary's on Aug. 31, 2008, in Berkeley, CA... Fullerton is 8-12-3 (.413) at home against WCC schools and 7-18-1 (.288) on the road.
TITANS 2-FOR-2 IN WPS CHAMPIONSHIPS: After former Titan goalkeeper Karen Bardsley helped Sky Blue FC to the inaugural Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) Championship in 2009, her former teammate followed suit on Sunday (Sept. 27) as Kandace Wilson scored a goal and added an assist in FC Gold Pride's 4-0 victory over the Philadelphia Independence. Wilson, who lettered for the Titans from 2002-05 and ranks second all-time in career points (82) and goals (35), scored her side's second goal in the 29th minute en route to the win - the first goal in her brief WPS career - and assisted on Marta's strike in stoppage time to cap the scoring. Wilson appeared in all 24 matches for FC Gold Pride during the season, making 15 starts, and helped her team to a 16-3-5 record and the league's regular season crown - 17 points better in the standings than second-place Boston (36).
COACH BROWN FEATURED ON "TITANS WIRED": "Titans Wired" is a new inside look at Titan Athletics and provides you with not only sights - but sounds of the game like you have never heard before. Shot, recorded and edited by team photographer Matt Brown, "Titans Wired" takes you where the action is. In this installment, Brown miked up fourth-year women's soccer head coach Demian Brown and followed him from his pre-game preparation through the Titans' Sept. 3 match against Purdue. To watch the video please visit http://vimeo.com/15212725.
A "GEM" OF AN ASSIST: Redshirt senior Geminesse Martinez posted her first assist of the season and the 10th of her career last week in the Titans' victory at San Diego State, ranking her as just one of 15 players in school history to reach double digits in that career category. Fullerton's active assists leader enters this week's contests with 14 career points - the second-highest total among active Titans behind only teammate and fellow senior Christina Murillo.
WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER: Junior Casey Volk turned in her second game-winning goal of the season against San Diego State as her 54th-minute strike turned out to be the difference in a 2-1 victory. Volk, who ranks second on the team in scoring this year with a pair of goals and two assists, also tallied the game-winner against then-No. 18 UNC Greensboro back on Sept. 5. Her two goals this season are one more than in her previous two years combined with the Titans while her two assists matched her career total entering the 2010 campaign.
M'S THE WORD: Nine of Fullerton's 12 goals this season have come via the feet of players whose last names begin with the letter "M": senior Christina Murillo (5 goals), freshman Nikki McCants (2), senior Geminesse Martinez (1), and freshman Lauren Mellano (1). Left out of the club, but no less important, are junior Casey Volk (2) and sophomore Brisa Gonzalez (1).
PROLIFIC: Senior midfielder Christina Murillo continues to rack up the points in her final season as a Titan, notching her 16th career goal in Fullerton's 2-1 victory over San Diego State. The score moved her into eighth place on the school's all-time list while her 36 career points now have her ranked ninth. Murillo, who has accounted for four of the team's last seven goals, tied her career high with her fifth strike this season (she had five as a freshman in 2007) and her 11 points this season also matches her career best (11 in 2008 as a sophomore with four goals and three assists).
NEXT ON THE LIST...: Murillo's next goal will move her into a three-way tie for sixth place on the all-time list, pulling her even with Lauryn Welch (2003-06) and Tennli Ulicny (1998-01)... she needs 10 more points to match Welch's career total of 46 career points for eighth place.
MORE ON MURILLO: Murillo enters the weekend ranked tied for fourth in the Big West with 11 points (5 goals and an assist), third in points per game (1.22), tied for fourth in goals, and tied for second in goals per game (0.56).
IT'S LIKE SOME SORT OF MACHINE: Cal State Fullerton's offense may not be the highest scoring group in the nation but, compared to last season's offensive output, the Titans are on a breakneck pace when it comes to finding the back of the net. Fullerton has scored 12 goals in its first nine matches (1.33 goals per game - sixth in the Big West Conference this week) this season, nearly matching the goal output from all of the 2009 when the Titans found the back of the net just 13 times in 19 matches overall. In addition, Cal State Fullerton has scored multiple goals four times already this year, surpassing the output (3 games) from all of last season.
AWWW, SHOOT!!!: Cal State Fullerton has been outshot in seven of its nine matches thus far this season and enters this weekend last in the league with 75 shots overall - 20 shots back of eighth-place UC Riverside (95). The Titans have taken more than 10 shots in a game and have held the advantage in shot column just twice this season: unleashing a season-best 20 volleys against Eastern Washington on Aug. 29 and 12 shots last weekend in Omaha against Creighton. On the plus side, when Cal State Fullerton has taken a shot, the Titans have usually tried to make it count as just over 49 percent of their shots have been put on frame (37-of-75).
I'M HERE TO HELP: Junior Caitlin Mellano is a giver. She likes to help out her teammates when she can and that has translated into a trio of assists on offense for the Titans this season - one more than she had in her first two years with Fullerton combined. The Titans' co-captain ranks tied for third in the Big West Conference with her three assists on the year, trailing only Long Beach State's Shawna Gordon (4) and UC Irvine's Jordan Bruce (5) in that category. Mellano's five career assists rank second among active Titans behind only teammate Geminesse Martinez.
STIRRING SPEECH, COACH: Whatever fourth-year head coach Demian Brown has been saying in the locker room at halftime seems to be working for the Titans' offense as eight of their 12 goals this season have come in the second half as well as two-thirds (49) of their 75 total shots on the year.
B-E AGGRESSIVE: Cal State Fullerton, which entered the weekend with just three yellow cards in its first eight matches, played the aggressor last week in San Diego as the Titans were booked three times against the Aztecs alone. Fullerton, which ranks eighth in the league with 85 fouls as a team, is tied for fifth in the league with its six cards this season.