Weekly Release (PDF)
Sacramento State @ Cal State Fullerton
Thursday, Oct. 1, 2015 | 7:00 PM
Titan Stadium • Fullerton, Calif.
TV: None
Live Video: www.FullertonTitans.com
Live Stats: www.FullertonTitans.com
Audio: www.FullertonTitans.com
Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015 | 7:00 PM
Titan Stadium • Fullerton, Calif.
TV: None
Live Video: www.FullertonTitans.com
Live Stats: www.FullertonTitans.com
Audio: www.FullertonTitans.com
THIS WEEK
The Cal State Fullerton men's soccer team hits the road to take on Big West preseason favorites Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara.
The TItans will visit Cal Poly on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. before heading to Santa Barbara on Saturday night at 7 p.m.
COME SEE THE TITANS
The Cal State Fullerton men's soccer team will be back at Titan Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 17 to host local rivals, UC Irvine.
Cal State Fullerton students receive free admission to Titan home games with their Titan I.D. card.
OPPONENTS & HISTORY
Cal Poly | 7:30 p.m. | Thursday, Oct. 8 | Alex G. Spanos Stadium
After finishing the 2014 season with an 8-7-4 record, Cal Poly has started 2015 in a much better fashion. The Mustangs remained unbeaten through the first four matches of the season. The Mustangs began 2015 Big West play at an opening mark of 1-0-1, beating CSUN and drawing a 1-1 tie with UC Irvine.
Cal Poly is led by reigning Big West Midfielder of the Year, Chase Minter along with reigning Big West Goalkeeper of the Year, Wade Hamilton. Minter has tabbed three goals on the year so far, his most recent being the game-winner against CSUN on Oct. 1. Hamilton has received Big West Defensive Player of the Week nods once this season while tallying 27 saves and four shutouts.
Head to Head: The Titans and Mustangs met last season in Fullerton, when a game-winner from Dyllan Stevens stunned Cal Poly in the 90th minute to give the Titans the 3-2 victory. Fullerton has won the last two matches between the two teams.
UC Santa Barbara | 7:00 p.m. | Saturday, Oct. 10 | Harder Stadium
UC Santa Barbara, the 2014 Big West North Division champs, were once again tabbed as the Big West preseason favorite. The Gauchos currently have a record of 7-3-1 which has earned them receiving votes nods in the NSCAA rankings. Santa Barbara has notable wins this season against Stanford, UCLA and a tie against Denver.
Head to Head: The last meeting between the two teams occurred last season as the Titans won their Big West home opener in a 2-0 win over the Gauchos. Goals from Robert Coronado and Mitchell Bell gave Fullerton it's third shutout of 2014.
BE A FOLLOWER
Fans can keep up with the latest in Titans athletics by following us on Facebook (FullertonTitans) 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.
QUICK HITS
• Cal State Fullerton ranks second in goals allowed with ten, only one behind Cal Poly with nine.
• Cal State Fullerton and David Rodriguez Elias lead the Big West in shutouts logging the sixth of the season against UC Davis.
• Diego Sanchez is tied for third in the Big West in points and goals with 13 and five, respectively on the year.
QUITE A START
Cal State Fullerton began Big West play with a 2-0 mark with victories over Sacramento State and UC Davis, giving the Titans their first 2-0 start since the sport was reinstated to the Big West in 2001.
Junior defender Zach Bryan notched his first career Big West Defensive Player of the Week honors after anchoring a defense that led the Titans to a 2-0 weekend.
The Murietta native led the Titan defense, which posted two shutouts this weekend against Sacramento State (2-0) and UC Davis (1-0), while logging the team's fourth shutout in the last five games. Fullerton leads the Big West with six shutouts on the year.
Bryan was instrumental in leading a Titan defense that allowed only 13 shots between the two teams, including Thursday night's match against Sacramento State who managed only three shots, none of them being on goal.
The 6-4 defender scored his first goal of the season against the Hornets, notching the game-winner in the 19th minute.
I SCORE, YOU SCORE, WE ALL SCORE!
Ten different Titans have scored this season to total the team's 17 goals, six Titans scoring their first career goals.
Freshmen Brandon West, Michael Lopez and Ross McPhie scored their first goals in a Titan uniform in a 3-0 shutout over George Washington. Transfer Ruben Alvarez and sophomore Nicolo D'Amato scored the first goals of their careers as in a comeback victory against Santa Clara and in a 3-0 victory over San Francisco, respectively. Freshman Ronaldo Pineda is the latest to join the club as he scored his first career goal against Sacramento State in a 2-0 shutout victory to open Big West play.
SANCHEZ LEADING THE PACK
Sophomore Diego Sanchez currently leads the Titans with five goals and 13 points on the year. The midfielder has either scored or assisted in six of the eleven games this season.
DAVID SHUTTING THEM OUT
Junior goalkeeper David Rodriguez Elias is getting comfortable in the net, playing all 990 minutes this season, surpassing his season total last year of 619 minutes. Rodriguez Elias has posted a 0.91 goals against average while managing 33 saves and a Big West leading six shutouts. The Huntington Beach native had a career night against Utah Valley where he recorded seven saves and also logged his sixth shutout of the year on Saturday night against UC Davis.
FRESHMEN MAKING AN IMPACT
Freshmen Brandon West and Ross McPhie have made an impact in the Titans' offense, each recording two goals apiece to stay behind Sanchez's team-leading five goals. McPhie logged his first game-winning goal in Sunday's shutout against Grand Canyon, while West has logged two game-winners this season.
BACK LINE COMING IN STRONG
The Cal State Fullerton defense saw some new faces in the starting lineup and proved to be a success. Junior defenders Zach Bryan and Mitchell Bell found their way into the starting lineup, holding up the back line that allowed only four shots, with none of them being on goal against UTRGV. Only a week later, the Titans held Grand Canyon to only five shots en route to Fullerton's fourth shutout of the season.
FRESH BLOOD
Freshman Brandon West is the first Titan in history to earn Big West Player of the Week honors as a freshman. The forward scored the first goal of his career against George Washington and had the assist in the game-winning goal in Sunday's comeback victory over Santa Clara to earn him the nod.
Cal State Fullerton was put to the test this preseason with exhibition matches against No. 16 Cal and the U17 Mexican National Team. The Titans played a 1-1 draw against Cal with Diego Sanchez scoring the Titans lone goal of the match before netting another goal against Mexico in a 3-1 loss.
PRESEASON PREDICTIONS
The Cal State Fullerton men's soccer team, defending Big West Tournament Champions, were picked to finish third in the Big West Preseason Poll.
UC Irvine, the 2014 regular season South Division champion, received five first-place votes out of the eight Big West head coaches for a total of 26 points. The Anteaters were also ranked No. 20 nationally in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America preseason poll.
To round out the South Division, Cal State Northridge received two first-place votes while Cal State Fullerton, the Big West Tournament Champion, collected 20 points and one first-place vote. In the North Division, UC Santa Barbara heads the list with 30 total points while receiving seven first-place votes.
FRESH FACES FOR 2015
The Titans added 17 new faces to the program for the 2015 season including 11 freshmen and six transfers to absorb the loss of the 12 seniors from the 2014 class. All 17 new faces will look to make an immediate impact on the pitch for Fullerton as the program looks to achieve back–to-back Big West Tournament Championships and NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time in school history.
Cal State Fullerton (10-8-6), led by first-year head coach George Kuntz won their first Big West Tournament Championship in school history. After finishing third in the Big West South Division regular season, the Titans beat UC Irvine in the championship game to give them the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Fullerton concluded its season with a heartbreaking loss in double overtime against the University of San Diego in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
