Oct. 13, 2010

FULLERTON, CA -

Complete Release in PDF Format

KICK OFF: After playing the better part of a month away from home, the Cal State Fullerton women's soccer team (4-9 overall, 1-1 in the Big West Conference) finally gets a chance to relish the comforts of home as the Titans open a four-match homestand this weekend at Titan Stadium. Fullerton opens on Thursday night (Oct. 14) at 7 p.m. against UC Riverside (1-10-2, 0-3) before welcoming in rival Long Beach State (9-3-2, 2-0-1) on Sunday (Oct. 17) for a 6 p.m. kick-off.

BE A FOLLOWER: Fans can keep up with the latest in Titans athletics by following us on Facebook (CSUF Athletics), 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?": Both of Cal State Fullerton's matches this weekend can be heard live over the Internet at FullertonTitans.com thanks to a partnership with Stretch Internet. Veteran soccer broadcaster Mike Martinez will have the calls live from Titan Stadium. To access the links, click on the headphones icon in the upper right-hand corner of the homepage at FullertonTitans.com.

"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, UC Riverside, nor Long Beach State are ranked in the top 25 this week.

ABOUT THE HIGHLANDERS: UC Riverside enters the weekend with a 1-10-2 overall record and an 0-3 mark in Big West play for ninth place... the Highlanders have gone winless in their last 10 matches (0-8-2) dating back to a 1-0 win over Texas State on Sept. 3 and have scored only one goal in that stretch, coming in a 2-1 loss to UC Santa Barbara... seven of the team's 13 matches have been decided by a single goal - including six 1-0 decisions... UCR endured a streak of 764 minutes without goals between the Texas State and UC Santa Barbara matches and has gone 227:02 without a goal after being shutout by Cal Poly (1-0) and Long Beach State (3-0) last weekend... Candis Novis and Melisa Escamilla have accounted for the team's two scores while Deborah Musa has tallied an assist and leads the team with 26 shots... keeper Jessica White has posted a 1.41 goals against average in 13 starts, making 71 saves and posting three shutouts.

ABOUT THE 49ERS: Long Beach State enters the weekend unbeaten in its last six matches (5-0-1) and is 9-3-2 overall and 2-0-1 in Big West Conference play... the 49ers opened league play with a 1-1 draw with Cal Poly before posting wins over UC Santa Barbara (3-1) and UC Riverside (3-0)... Long BEach State has marquee wins over ranked squads with \#21 Washington State (2-1), \#16 Virginia Tech (2-1), and \#21 Arizona State (1-0) while falling to \#14 BYU (2-0) and \#19 California (6-0)... Nadia Link leads the team in scoring with seven goals and 15 points while Shawna Gordon is second with three goals, six assists, and 12 points... 10 different 49ers have scored a goal this season... Emily Kingsborough has played the majority of time in net, posting a 1.00 goals against average and 54 saves to go with three shutouts in 13 matches.

SERIES RECORDS: Cal State Fullerton narrowly leads the all-time series with both of its opponents this weekend, holding a 5-4-1 advantage over UC Riverside and a 7-5 lead over Long Beach State... the Titans won both of the meetings with these two opponents last season, shutting out UCR on the road, 1-0, and blanking Long Beach State, 2-0, away from home... Fullerton is 2-2-1 against the Highlanders in Fullerton, with UCR posting a 3-2 win at Titan Stadium in 2008, while the Titans are just 1-4 against the 49ers at home, losing their last three home matches against Long Beach State dating back to 2003... the Titans' last win over the 49ers at home was in 2001 by the score of 1-0 on a goal in the 70th minute by Jenny Mescher in front of a school-record 1,570 fans.

YOU CAN PUT `EM ON THE BOARRRRD, YES!: Cal State Fullerton's successful start to the conference schedule saw three new names in the scoring summary for the Titans' 3-2 win over UC Davis. Sophomore Jennifer Smith (who also added an assist on the game-winner later in the match) netted her first career goal in the first half against the Aggies while freshman Summer Chavez gave Fullerton the early lead in the second half with her first career Division I score in the 46th minute. Senior Danielle Bitonti, who ranks second among active Titans with seven career strikes, then added her first of the year (and game-winner) in the 73rd minute.

NINE!!: In all, nine different players have found the back of the net for the Titans this season - four of those scoring their first career goals.

HOW `BOUT THIS FOR AN ENDING?: During the Titans' four-match homestand, they will face three of the top five teams in the Big West Conference standings and, in their final six matches of the year, will play each of the five teams currently ranked above them in the standings as of Oct. 11.

BUNCHES: The three goals scored by Fullerton at UC Davis last weekend marked the fifth time this season that the Titans have scored multiple goals in a match and the second time they have scored as many as three goals following a 4-0 shutout win over Eastern Washington on Aug. 29. On the flip side, however, Fullerton's 3-0 loss to Pacific two days later marked the eighth time the Titans have allowed multiple goals in a match and the fifth time an opponent has put up three goals against the Fullerton defense.

SIMPLY OFFENSIVE: ... and we mean that in a good way. Fullerton's three-goal outburst against UC Davis upped the Titans' total to 16 goals as a team this season - moving well past the dubious school record of 13 goals scored last season. The 16 goals put Cal State Fullerton in a tie with Cal State Northridge for sixth in the league entering this weekend's contests while its 1.23 goals per game rank fifth in the conference.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO MURILLO?: Fullerton's trip to Northern California produced somewhat of a shocker as senior midfielder Christina Murillo did not score during a weekend of play for the first time all season. Murillo, who leads the team with six goals and 13 points overall, had scored five of the team's last eight goals entering the matches against UC Davis and Pacific and had her name called at least once in every weekend since the start of the 2010 season.

M'S THE WORD: Ten of Fullerton's 16 goals this season have come via the feet of players whose last names begin with the letter "M": senior Christina Murillo (6 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).

THIS CLOSE: Four of Fullerton's last five contests have been decided by a single goal, but the Titans have emerged on the winning side just twice thanks to a 2-1 victory over San Diego State on Sept. 24 and last weekend's 3-2 decision at UC Davis. Overall, six of the team's 13 contests this season have been one-goal decisions.

PROLIFIC: Senior midfielder Christina Murillo continues to rack up the points in her final season as a Titan, notching her 17th career goal in Fullerton's 2-1 loss to San Diego on Oct. 3. The score moved her into a three-way tie for sixth place on the school's all-time list, joining current assistant coach Lauryn Welch (2003-06) and Tennli Ulicny (1998-01), while her 38 points have her ninth. Murillo, who has accounted for five of the team's last 11 goals, set a new career high with her sixth strike this season (she had five as a freshman in 2007) and her 13 points this season are also a career best (11 in 2008 as a sophomore with four goals and three assists).

NEXT ON THE LIST...: Murillo needs four more goals this season to tie Kellie Cox (2001-05) for fifth place on the school's all-time list and five more to match Amy Barnes (1996-99) for fourth... she needs eight more points to match Welch's career total of 46 career points for eighth place.

MORE ON MURILLO: Murillo enters the weekend ranked fourth in the Big West with 13 points (6 goals and an assist), tied for third in points per game (1.00), tied for third in goals, and fifth in goals per game (0.46)... her 17 goals during her career are far and away the most by any active Titan as senior Danielle Bitonti is second with seven... the six goals this season by Murillo are the most by a Fullerton player in a single season since Lauren Cram scored six times in 2007.

A "GEM" OF AN ASSIST: Redshirt senior Geminesse Martinez posted her first assist of the season and the 10th of her career in the Titans' victory at San Diego State on Sept. 24, 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 third-highest total among active Titans behind teammates Christina Murillo (38) and Danielle Bitonti (15).

AWWW, SHOOT!!!: Cal State Fullerton has been outshot in nine of its 13 matches thus far this season and enters this weekend last in the league with 116 shots overall - 17 shots back of eighth-place UC Riverside (133). The Titans have taken more than 10 shots in a game just three times: unleashing a season-best 22 volleys at UC Davis on Oct. 8, 20 against Eastern Washington on Aug. 29, and 12 shots against Creighton on Sept. 19. On the plus side, when Cal State Fullerton has taken a shot, the Titans have usually tried to make it count as just under 45 percent of their shots have been put on frame (52-of-116).

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 10 of their 16 goals this season have come in the second half as well as over half (65) of their 116 total shots on the year.