Oct. 31, 2006
FULLERTON, CA - The Cal State Fullerton women's soccer team (9-7-2 overall, 4-2-1 in the Big West Conference for third place), begins its defense of the Big West Conference Tournament title this weekend as the No. 3-seeded Titans travel to Long Beach State for the 2006 Big West tournament at George Allen Field on campus.
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Fullerton will meet No. 2-seeded UC Santa Barbara in the tournament's first semifinal on Friday morning (Nov. 3) at 11 a.m., with top-seeded Long Beach State meeting No. 4 Cal Poly in the second match of the day 30 minutes after the completion of the first game. The tournament championship, and league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, will be contested on Sunday (Nov. 5) at 1 p.m.
ON THE AIR
For those fans unable to attend this weekend's tournament contests featuring the Titans, a live Internet broadcast will be available at www.FullertonTitans.com. Cal State Fullerton student Mike Martinez will handle the play-by-play, just as he has all season. Long Beach State has also set up a tournament website at www.LongBeachState.com that will feature match recaps, box scores, and post-game quotes posted as soon as possible following the game.
THE POLLS
None of the teams in this weekend's Big West Tournament are ranked nationally... Long Beach State, Cal State Fullerton, and UC Santa Barbara are all tied for 10th in the NSCAA West Region poll... The 49ers are No. 12 in the West while the Titans are No. 14 in the Soccer Buzz West Region poll... Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara are receiving votes in the region according to Soccer Buzz.
TITANS' TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Cal State Fullerton is making its third consecutive appearance in the Big West Conference tournament and its fifth in six events... the Titans are 2-3 all-time in tournament action with all three losses coming in the first round to Cal Poly (1996-97, 2004) and both wins coming last season against Pacific (W, 1-0) and UC Riverside (4-1) en route to the title and NCAA Tournament berth... Fullerton has never faced UC Santa Barbara or Long Beach State in the Big West Tournament.
QUICK LOOK AT THE FIELD
Regular-season co-champion Long Beach State is making its second consecutive appearance in the Big West Tournament and is hosting the event for the first time... Co-champion UC Santa Barbara, which also shared the regular season title with the Titans in 2004, is making its third tournament appearance in the last four years, reaching the championship match in its last two trips... Cal Poly has won three of the five Big West Tournament titles (1996, 2003-04) in conference history and is making a return trip to the tournament after failing to qualify last season.
SERIES NOTES
Cal State Fullerton leads the all-time series with UC Santa Barbara, 8-5-1, but is looking to avenge an earlier loss to the Gauchos this season... UCSB defeated the Titans, 4-1, at Titan Stadium on Oct. 13... the two teams have never met in the Big West Tournament... Cal Poly leads the all-time series with Fullerton, 8-4-3, including a double-overtime scoreless tie at Titan Stadium on Oct. 15... The Titans are 0-3 against the Mustangs in the Big West Tournament... Fullerton leads the series with Long Beach State 5-4, but the 49ers clinched a share of the regular season title and the hosts role for the tournament with a 1-0 win over the Titans on Oct. 25 at Titan Stadium in front of a national television audience on the Fox Soccer Channel.
SCOUTING THE GAUCHOS
UC Santa Barbara finished the regular season as co-champions of the Big West Conference, tied atop the league with Long Beach State with a 5-1-1 conference record and 16 points... The Gauchos were 7-6-6 overall on the year... UCSB is unbeaten in its last seven matches, posting five wins and two ties... Chandi Bickford leads the team in scoring with seven goals and seven assists (21) while Genelle Ives (7 goals, four assists), Allie Kueny (5 goals), and Kandice Mclaughlin (3 goals) also have multiple goals... Goalkeeper Katie Wright has a 0.79 goals against average and five shutouts in 15 matches this season to go along with 61 saves.
SCOUTING THE 49ERS
League co-champion Long Beach State finished tied atop the league with UC Santa Barbara with a 5-1-1 conference record and 16 points... The 49ers were 14-4-1 overall this season... Long Beach State split its matches last week with a 1-0 win at Cal State Fullerton and a 3-0 loss to UC Riverside at home... Kim Silos leads the offense with nine goals and eight assists... Hayley Bolt is also one of the league's top scorers with eight goals and four assists... Goalkeeper Liz Ramos has a 0.55 goals against average and 11 shutouts in 19 starts to go with 57 saves.
SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS
Cal Poly finished the season 9-6-3 overall and 3-1-3 in conference play for fourth place... The Mustangs lost their only match last weekend, 2-1 to UC Santa Barbara on Sunday... Cal Poly has played overtime seven times this season (including five straight from Oct. 1-15) - the most of any school in the Big West this season... Kelsey Carroll and Ashley Vallis lead the team with seven goals this season while Carroll has a team-high 17 points on the year... Goalkeeper Alli Tramel has a 0.86 goals against average and six shutouts in 18 starts this season to go with 63 saves.
FULLERTON COLLECTS SIXTH-STRAIGHT WINNING SEASON
With its victory over UC Irvine on Sunday, the Titans clinched their sixth-straight winning season under Head Coach Ali Khosroshahin since 2001. Prior to Khosroshahin's arrival, Fullerton had posted winning years only twice in 1995 (14-5) and 1996 (13-6-2).
NEEDING ONE MORE
With a win over UC Santa Barbara on Friday, Cal State Fullerton will reach double-digit wins for the third consecutive season and the fifth time in six seasons under the direction of Head Coach Ali Khosroshahin. Prior to Khosroshahin's arrival, the Titans had racked up 10-or-more wins only twice in 1995-96.
KUDOS TO THE FANS
A hearty "thank you" to the fans of Cal State Fullerton women's soccer, who treated a national television audience to a packed Titan Stadium attendance of 1,187 on Oct. 25 against Long Beach State - the third-highest attendance for a home women's soccer match in the history of the program. The home field single-match attendance record is 1,570 fans, also for a match against the 49ers (a 1-0 Titans' victory), back on Oct. 19, 2001.
PERFECT ATTENDANCE
Cal State Fullerton led the conference in attendance with 10,649 fans overall and 592 fans per game in 18 matches this season. The Titans, who were tied with Long Beach State for the fewest home matches of any Big West school this season at six, were third in home attendance at 3,596 (behind Cal Poly at 4,689 and Pacific at 4,306), but led the league with 599 fans per game.
SUCCESS IN LONG BEACH
While it is still to be determined if rivals Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State will meet in this weekend's tournament, the Titans have seen success on the 49ers home field, posting a 3-1 record in Long Beach dating back to 1998 and emerging victorious in their last two trips in 2004 and 2005.