November 10, 2019 - Cal State Fullerton vs. CSUN in the Big West Tournament Final - Photos taken by Matt Brown
The The Titans held a 3-0 lead in the first half of the Big West Tournament Final when Alea Acosta was fouled inside the 18-yard box to win a penalty kick for the Titans moments before the half ended.
Then-sophomore Kaya Hawkinson midfielder, a 2019 All-Big West Honorable Mention honoree, immediately grabbed the ball to take the PK. The holding midfielder had yet to score in her collegiate career but this was the moment for her.
"Right when the official blew the whistle for the foul, I knew I wanted to take it," Hawkinson said. "I looked over at my coach (Demian Brown) and told him 'I want this' and he gave me the head nod to go for it."
After getting the approval from Brown, Hawkinson stepped up to the spot.
"Well going into a PK, I always get pretty nervious before taking them," Hawkinson said. "And for this one, I really made sure to calm myself down and tune out the crowd, especially since we had a pretty big crowd for the championship game. I just told myself 'to stay relaxed and slot it in the corner' like I usually do."
GOALLL!! @aleaacosta7 wins the PK and @kayahawk buries it for her first goal as a Titan!
— Titans Women's Soccer (@FullertonWSOC) November 11, 2019
At halftime CSF leads CSUN 4-0!
Watch the match live here: https://t.co/SW3LfCKe2v #TusksUp pic.twitter.com/xUDxQcsWKM
Hawkinson buried the PK but didn't lose focus and let her mind wander to lifting the trophy just yet.
"I didn't really think about the bigger picture, in terms of 'this goal clinches the trophy for us', at that moment," said Hawkinson. "We were already up three goals before the PK, so I felt confident in our team. But no, my mind didn't go there at that time."
Hawkinson and her teammates swept both the Big West regular season and tournament championships to punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
"It was a great achievement because we worked so hard," Hawkinson stated. "Especially since we didn't have a very good year my freshman year, we finished in last place. So just to turn it around ... all the hard work we put in during the spring that led into the fall, it felt good to finally accomplish that."
