Oct. 31, 2008
FULLERTON, CA - The Cal State Fullerton women's soccer team (7-10-1 overall, 2-5 in the Big West Conference) will look to close out its 2008 season on a high note this weekend as the Titans travel to Cal State Northridge to take on the Matadors. Kickoff is scheduled for Sunday (Nov. 2) at 2 p.m.
IN THE POLLS: Neither Cal State Fullerton nor Cal State Northridge are ranked nationally entering the final weekend of the regular season.
CATCH IT "LIVE": For those fans who are unable to make the trip to Northridge this weekend, you can catch Fullerton's season finale live over the Internet at FullertonTitans.com. Veteran Titan soccer broadcaster Mike Martinez will have the play-by-play on the live audio stream. A link to live Gametracker statistics is also available on the women's soccer schedule page.
SCOUTING THE MATADORS: Cal State Northridge enters its season finale with a 7-9-2 overall record and a 2-4-1 mark in Big West Conference play... the Matadors dropped a 1-0 decision to UC Riverside at home on Thursday night... Cal State Northridge is 5-1-1 at home this season... Nancy Avesyan leads the team in scoring with 11 points on four goals and three assists... Leah Elliott has started all 18 matches in net, posting a 1.33 goals against average and 106 saves to go with three shutouts.
VERSUS CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE: Cal State Fullerton has dominated the all-time series with Cal State Northridge, winning 10 of the 11 all-time meetings between the two schools... The Titans have won the last seven straight in the series dating back to the Matadors' only win in the series - a 1-0 victory in overtime on Sept. 27, 2000, in Northridge... Since then, Fullerton has outscored Northridge by a 15-4 count during its current winning streak... The Titans are 4-1 all-time against the Matadors in Northridge.
WINNING STREAK COMES TO AN END: Last weekend's last-minute loss to UC Riverside ended Cal State Fullerton's streak of winning seasons at seven as the Titans will finish below the .500 mark for the first time since going 8-12 in 2000.
TITANS REMAIN OFFENSIVE: Cal State Fullerton has continued to find the back of the net with ease in the second half of the season, notching multiple goals for the seventh time in its last nine matches in its 3-2 loss to UC Riverside. The Titans are averaging 1.78 goals per match (16 scores overall) in that stretch, but are just 3-6 in the win-loss column. Opponents have just edged Fullerton in the scoring column in those nine contests, scoring 17 goals - including three goals on four separate occasions.
FIXTURE ON THE FIELD: Cal State Fullerton senior defender Casey Schostag appeared in her 79th career contest last weekend against UC Riverside, moving her into a tie for eighth on the school's all-time list. Should she make it into the match against Cal State Northridge, she would become only the ninth player in the history of the program to appear in 80 or more matches in a career, placing her into a tie for fourth on the all-time list.
SNAKE BIT: If Fullerton's recent struggles were played according to the mythical "80 Minutes" rule, the Titans' season would look drastically different. Five of the team's last six losses (Hawaii, Cal Poly, Pacific, UC Davis, and UC Riverside) have seen the opposition net either the game-tying or game-winning goal (or in some cases both) in the final 10 minutes of the match - including three losses (Hawaii, Cal Poly, and UC Riverside) in the last five minutes of the game.
BIG HAND FOR THE FANS: Cal State Fullerton has enjoyed a tremendous home field advantage in 2008, as the 5,005 fans in attendance at Titan Stadium this season leads the Big West Conference and stands as the fourth largest home attendance figure in school history. Fullerton's overall attendance toal of 9,169 is also the largest in the Big West this season and has surpassed last year's total of 9,023 - ranking it fourth all-time in school history with one match remaining. In addition, the Titans' 556 per game average at home is a close second in the league to Cal Poly, which leads the way with 571 fans per game at home. Overall, Fullerton has had four of the top 20 single-match attendance marks in school history come through the turnstiles in matches against Alabama (839 - 8th), San Diego State (779 - 11th), Long Beach State (671 - 16th), and UC Santa Barbara (653 - 17th).
GIBBENS HELPS HER WAY INTO TOP 10: Cal State Fullerton senior defender Jenae Gibbens notched her Big West Conference-leading sixth assist of the year last week against UC Riverside, moving her into a seven-way tie for fifth on the school's single-season list. She needs only one more to match three other Titan greats for second on the single-season chart, joining Kellie Cox (2001), Dolores Browning (1996), and Erin Rico (1995).
VOTE GIBBENS IN '08: Gibbens is one of 10 finalists for this year's 2008 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, honoring those student-athletes who have excelled in the classroom, in the community, and in competition. Fan online voting (vote for Jenae at www.seniorclassaward.com), which accounts for 1/3 of the total points for each student-athlete, ends on Nov. 19 with the winner announced during the Women's College Cup on Dec. 5. Text voting is also available by texting "WS5" to 839863.
TITAN PAIR NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT: Cal State Fullerton senior defender Jenae Gibbens and sophomore defender Tamara Dewey were each named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District 8 Teams as released by the College Sports Information Directors of America on Thursday morning.
Gibbens, a marketing major at Cal State Fullerton, was named to the all-district first team for the second straight year and is now eligible to be named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Team that will be released on Nov. 18. She was named a Third-Team CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American as a junior in 2007.
One of 10 finalists for this year's Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, Gibbens is a two-time All-Big West Conference selection and was the league's Defender of the Year as a junior. The senior has started the last 53 straight matches dating back to her sophomore season and was the Cal State Fullerton's 2007 Big West Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
On the field, Gibbens enters the final weekend of the regular season ranked second on the team in scoring with 12 points that includes three goals (all game-winning scores) and six assists while starting all 18 matches this season. Her assist total places her in a four-way tie for the lead in the Big West Conference while her three game-winners also stands tied for the top spot in the league.
Dewey, a kinesiology major at Cal State Fullerton, was named to the all-district second team in 2008, adding her academic credentials to her play on the field, scoring four goals and tallying an assist in 15 matches this season.
The two Titans joined Long Beach State's Lindsay Bullock (second-team honoree) as selections from the Big West Conference.
To be eligible for the Academic All-District Team, the student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve, maintain at least a 3.30 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale), have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at her institution, and must have completed at least one full academic year at her institution.
Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA covering all NCAA championship sports.