Oct. 13, 2005
FULLERTON, CA -
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THIS WEEK:
With a pair of Big West Conference victories in the book, the Cal State Fullerton women's soccer team (10-3 overall, 2-1 in the Big West) heads to the coast for one of its biggest weekends of the season.
The Titans kick-off the weekend with a trip to San Luis Obispo to take on defending Big West Tournament champion Cal Poly on Friday night (Oct. 7) at 7:30 p.m. at Mustang Stadium.
Fullerton then heads south to Santa Barbara to take on the 2004 conference co-champion Gauchos on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 9) at 1 p.m.
TITANS LEAP BACK INTO TOP 25:
Cal State Fullerton leapt back into the top 25 this week, standing at No. 24 in the nation according to the National Soccer Coaches Association. The Titans also gained a little favor in the Soccer Buzz and Soccer Times polls, ranking No. 27 in the nation in Soccer Buzz and receiving votes according to Soccer Times. Regionally, the Titans are ranked as high as eighth (NSCAA and Soccer Times) and No. 9 in the Soccer Buzz regional rankings.
MORE RANKINGS NEWS:
Cal Poly is also gaining favor in the polls, entering this week ranked No. 29 nationally by Soccer Buzz and receiving votes in both the NSCAA and Soccer Times polls. All three polls have the Mustangs ranked in the top 10 regionally.
ON THE AIR... SORT OF:
For the first time in the history of the program, all of Cal State Fullerton's women's soccer home matches will be broadcast live over the Internet at www.FullertonTitans.com. Students Mike Martinez and Brian Reed will provide the commentary.
CAL POLY BRIEFLY:
The defending Big West Tournament champions, Cal Poly (www.gopoly.com) enters the weekend with a 9-2-3 overall mark and a 1-1 record in Big West play. The Mustangs split last weekend, falling to Long Beach State (4-2) and defeating UC Irvine (2-1). Sharon Day leads all Cal Poly scorers with six goals and four assists while Becky Clark has also scored six times this season. Goalkeeper Liz Hill is 7-2-3 in net with a 1.02 goals against and 55 saves to go with her four shutouts.
FOR THE RECORD:
Cal Poly holds a commanding 8-3-2 lead in the all-time series, including a win in the first round of last year's Big West Tournament. The Mustangs have outscored the Titans, 26-13, in the 13 all-time meetings.
UC SANTA BARBARA BRIEFLY:
UC Santa Barbara (www.ucsbgauchos.com) enters the weekend with a 7-7 overall mark and a 1-1 record in Big West play. The Gauchos split last weekend's matches on the road, defeating UC Irvine (3-0) before falling to Long Beach State (3-1). Genelle Ives leads the team in scoring with four goals and five assists while Allie Kueny is second with three goals and six assists. Goalkeeper Jamie Considine has a 1.75 goals against and 63 saves.
FOR THE RECORD:
Fullerton is 7-3-1 all-time against UCSB, but saw its two-match winning streak snapped with a 3-0 loss in Santa Barbara last season. The Titans are 3-1-1 against the Gauchos on the road all time.
YOU PICKED A FINE TIME:
Erin Shelton's two goals against Pacific not only lifted the Titans to victory, but they also equalled her career goal-scoring total from her previous three seasons. Shelton, who has 12 career assists, scored single goals in 2003 and 2004.
DOUBLE DIGIT KUDOS:
Cal State Fullerton reached the 10-win plateau for the fourth time in five seasons under Head Coach Ali Khosroshahin with its victory on Sunday over Pacific. Under Khosroshahin's tutelage, the Titans have won just under 64 percent of their contests, improving to 55-31-4 in the last five seasons.
THE FRIENDLY CONFINES:
Two more victories at Titan Stadium this past weekend moved Fullerton to 4-1 overall at home this season with the only loss coming in the season opener to San Diego State. The Titans are 72-53-6 (.573) at home all-time, including a 30-9-2 (.756) mark under Head Coach Ali Khosroshahin.
KEEPER MATCHES SHUTOUT MARK:
Redshirt junior goalkeeper Karen Bardsley tied the school shutout record last Friday night against Cal State Northridge, blanking the Matadors for her 13th career clean sheet and her fifth this season. Bardsley, who is already the career leader in goalkeeper victories with 27, needs one more shutout to tie and two to break Laura Janke's single-season mark of six shutouts set in 2003.
CAL POLY CONUNDRUM:
The host Mustangs hold a commanding 8-3-2 lead in the all-time series with the Titans entering this weekend's match in San Luis Obispo - a place where Fullerton has struggled. The Titans have won only once in five matches at Cal Poly, last downing the Mustangs, 2-1, in 2001. In its last trip to Mustang Stadium, the Cal State Fullerton and nationally-ranked Cal Poly played to a 1-1 draw in 2003.
EVERYBODY SCORES:
Cal State Fullerton's offense this season has been one of the most diverse in the Big West as nine different players have found the back of the net for the Titans - all with two or more goals. It is the most multiple goal-scorers in a single season for the Titans since 2002 when they had 14 players score, nine of those with two-or-more goals.
HELPING OTHERS:
Senior midfielder Kellie Cox has found ways to not only be successful scoring goals, she has done well helping her teammates also find the back of the net. With her 17th career assist against Cal State Northridge on Friday, Cox moved into a tie for second place on the all-time list with Barbie Gil (1995-97) - needing just two more to break Dolores Browning's record of 18 which has stood since 1998.
DEFENSE STILL STINGY:
Despite allowing two goals in its 3-2 win over Pacific, the Titans' defense continues to be one of the best in the Big West Conference this season. Fullerton is tied with UC Riverside for the fewest goals allowed in the league (10) and ranks first in the conference by percentage points in goals against average - 0.756 to the Highlanders' 0.758.
NOT TO BE A JINX OR ANYTHING:
If the Titans' previous 13 matches were any indication, this should be a highly-successful weekend. Fullerton has followed each of their losses with four consecutive victories and, since falling to UC Riverside, the Titans have defeated Cal State Northridge and Pacific in back-to-back matches.