Weekly Release (PDF)

Cal State Fullerton at Illinois-Chicago
Friday, Aug. 29, 2014 | 5:30 PM
Flames Stadium • Chicago, Ill.

Cal State Fullerton at San Diego
Monday, Sept. 1, 2014 | 7:30 PM
Torero Stadium • San Diego, Calif.

THIS WEEK
Cal State Fullerton's 2014 season and first-year head coach George Kuntz's debut will happen on the road this weekend as the Titans travel to the University of Illinois-Chicago on Friday. The Titans will then head back to Southern California and will make the short trip to San Diego for a 7:30 p.m. kick-off against the Toreros on Monday.

PROMOTIONS & TICKETS
Cal State Fullerton students receive free admission to Titan home games with their Titan I.D. card. 
Fullerton hosts San Francisco at 7 p.m., on Friday, Sept. 5, in the Titans' home opener at Titan Stadium.
Additional ticket information can be found by clicking HERE.

OPPONENTS & HISTORY
Illinois-Chicago | 5:30 p.m. | Friday, Aug. 29 | Flames Stadium
Despite a 16-4 record and an undefeated mark of 7-0 in the Horizon League during 2013, Illinois-Chicago missed out on an appearance in the NCAA Tournament as the Flames were not selected with an at-large bid. In the Horizon League Tournament championship match, UIC suffered a 2-0 loss to Milwaukee. Entering 2014, the Flames will be without last year's leading scorer Slobodan Aleksov (10 goals, 3 assists), but starting goalkeeper Andrew Putna (0.79 goals against average) returns to mind the net.
UIC has won five conference titles (1999, 2000, 2006, 2008, 2013), three league tournament championships (1999, 2000, 2007) and made five NCAA Tournament appearances (1999, 2000, 2006, 2007, 2008).
Head-to-Head: Friday's season opener will mark the first match between UCI and Fullerton. 

San Diego | 7:30 p.m. | Monday, Sept. 1 | Torero Stadium
Cal State Fullerton and San Diego will meet for the 26th time on Monday at Torero Stadium, with USD holding a 12-10-3 edge in the all-time series. 
Last Meeting: San Diego's Sergio Lopez scored the golden goal in the 105th minute of double overtime to seal the come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Cal State Fullerton on Sept. 8, 2013 at Torero Stadium in San Diego.
The loss was the true definition of a heartbreaker for the Titans, who held a 2-0 lead as late as the 69th minute, after scoring on two of their first four corner kick opportunities.
Look Back:  USD was chosen to finish third in the preseason WCC Coaches Poll, coming in behind reigning champ LMU and Santa Clara. The Toreros had two players named to the preseason All-WCC team; senior midfielder Connor Brandt and junior forward Torrey DeArmas. The Toreros have 21 returning letterwinners and nine returning starters from last year's team, and have added eight newcomers (two freshman & six transfers).

BE A FOLLOWER
Fans can keep up with the latest in Titans athletics by following us on Facebook (CSUF.Athletics) and Twitter (@FullertonTitans). In addition, the men's soccer team has established its own Facebook and Twitter presence. Search for "Cal State Fullerton Men's  Soccer" on Facebook or follow them on Twitter at @CSUFMensSoccer.

THE RETURN OF EDDIE SOTO
Cal State Fullerton All-American Eddie Soto is currently in his first-year as head coach at the University of San Francisco. Soto will return to Titans Stadium on Friday, Sept. 5, with the Dons as Fullerton hosts USF in its home opener. Soto finished his career with 38 goals and 20 assists playing for Fullerton from 1992-94. During the that time, Fullerton totaled a record of 42-20-2 making the program's deepest run in the NCAA Tournament – a Final Four finish in 1993 and following that with a trip to the quarterfinals in 1994.

ALUMNI WARM-UP
In Cal State Fullerton's final tune-up before the official start of the season, three different Titans found the back of the net in 3-0 shutout of the alumni squad.
In the 21st minute, senior forward Marc Fenelus broke the scoreless drought finding an opening near post.
Nine minutes later, rookie Robert Coronado fired a rocket to the left side from outside the box, giving the Titans a 2-0 lead.
In the 58th minute, junior Colin Okirie put his head on the end of a Julian Okai corner kick to record Fullerton's third and final goal.

PRESEASON PREDICTIONS

Cal State Fullerton senior Ian Ramos was selected to the Big West Preseason All-Conference Team as chosen by the league's coaches, it was announced on Aug. 21, 2014.

A native of Highland, Utah, Ramos is a two-time all-Big West honoree earning honorable mention accolades in 2013 after picking up first team honors in 2012.

During his junior year, Ramos appeared in 18 matches, making 15 starts and finished the season as the Titans' leading scorer with four goals and three assists.

As just a sophomore in 2012, Ramos developed into one of the Titans' premier offensive threats, netting six goals (second on the team) and dishing out a team-leading six assists. His 18 total points were tied for the most on the team and tied for the fifth most in the Big West.

UC Santa Barbara was picked to finish first in the North Division with eight first place votes, while CSUN was picked to finish first in the South Division with six first-place votes.

Cal State Fullerton was selected to finish last in the South Division.

NUMBERS GAME

• The Titans have 17 returning letterwinners and nine returning starters from last year's team, and have added 14 newcomers. Of the newcomers, five are transfers, three come from the junior college ranks and six are freshmen.

• Fullerton scored 23 goals and added 22 assists for 68 points in 2013, and six of the team's top scorers return in Ian Ramos (4 goals, 3 assists), Garrett Losee (3 goals, 1 assist), Amara Soumah (3 goals), Marc Fenelus (2 goals, 2 assists), Spencer Johnson (1 goal, 1 assist) and Alex Cannas (2 goals, 1 assists). In fact, the Titans return 97 percent of their scoring from a season ago.

NET MINDING

Fullerton boasts four goalkeepers on the roster in 2014 - all new to Cal State Fullerton.

Junior Jeff Salt (CSUSB) and sophomore Sean Bieker (Colordao-Mesa) are expected to compete for the starting spot, while sophomore David Rodriguez Elias and freshman Max Medley round out the roster.

KUNTZ ERA BEGINS

The George Kuntz era begins on Friday at UIC. Kuntz, a 26-year head coaching veteran, was appointed the eighth men's soccer head coach in Cal State Fullerton history, Athletic Director Jim Donovan announced on Dec. 16, 2013.

Kuntz joined Cal State Fullerton after serving 19 years as the men's head soccer coach at UC Irvine, turning the Anteaters into a perennial soccer power that have made four NCAA Tournament appearances in the last six years, winning four Big West Tournament championships (2008, 2009,2011, 2013) and three regular season titles (2008, 2010, 2011).Kuntz, a collegiate head coach no entering his 27th year was named the NSCAA/Adidas Far West Region Coach of the Year in (2006 and 2008) and has seen a number of players jump to the next level including 12 in Major League Soccer (MLS) and three on various U.S. National Teams.

His career record is 319-217-64, ranking second in Big West history with 141 victories as a member of the Big West Conference. In addition, his 62 Big West wins ranks third all-time.

NINE SECONDS OF CHAOS

There were 53 seconds of chaos at Titan Stadium on Oct. 19, 2013. Leading, 1-0, from the 36th minute when Garrett Losee had scored, until the 84:53 mark over UC Irvine, the Titans gave up a goal to the Anteaters, knotting the score. But on the ensuing kick off, Marc Fenelus streaked down the field and scored nine seconds later, moving the Titans ahead, 2-1. It took Irvine 46 more seconds to re-tie the score as hardly the fans, the teams or the stat crew could regroup to acknowledge what had happened. The teams played two periods of overtime to a draw before everyone could breathe.

Later study concluded that the pair of goals within 9 seconds of one another ranked seventh on the NCAA all-time list and was the first time two goals had been scored in under 10 seconds since 2007.

INTERNATIONAL DUTY

Marc Fenelus competed in the 2014 Caribbean Cup for  the Turks and Caicos Islands national team. Turks and Caicos suffered a 1-0 loss to Aruba and a 6-0 loss to French Guiana before the team's final match. In the 31st minute in a match against British Virgin Islands, Fenelus scored the team's first goal since 2008 as the team went on to a 2-0 victory.

HALL OF FAME

The most prolific scorer in the history of the men's soccer program, forward Mike Fox remains the "gold standard" when it comes to the Cal State Fullerton record books, embarking on an 11-year professional career following a standout four seasons with the Titans. He was inducted into the Cal State Fullerton Athletics Hall of Fame on Oct. 11, 2013.

Although records are incomplete from his freshman season in 1979, Fox is Fullerton's all-time leader in points with 119 and is the school record holder with 46 goals during a collegiate career that lasted until 1982. He holds three of the top 10 single-season scoring performances in school history, including a 40-point campaign as a senior in 1982 en route to second-team All-America honors on a career-high 17 goals -- a total that ranks tied for second in a season -- and six assists.

Fox also ranks second on the all-time list with 26 assists, including a single-season record of 13 assists as a sophomore in 1980 that still stands today.