Box Score (PDF)
FULLERTON, Calif. – The Cal State Fullerton men's soccer team ended their season in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in a 3-0 loss against Santa Clara at Titan Stadium on Thursday night.
The Titans (13-8-1, 6-3-1) surrendered three goals to the Broncos, two in the first half and the last via a penalty kick to seal the fate for Fullerton.
"It's disappointing. I thought we'd be much more dangerous, more prominent," explained head coach George Kuntz. "It's very disappointing the way it played out. We outshot them, I think we out possessed them but I think they executed well on goals and they were good in the air."
Fullerton outshot Santa Clara 11-7 while landing six of them on target forcing Bronco goalkeeper to make six saves throughout the night. Titan goalkeeper David Rodriguez Elias notched one save on the night to solidify his final goals against average at 0.89 on the year.
The Titans fell quickly behind as Santa Clara got on the board in the 10th minute off a header from Luis Urias via Dylan Autran, who logged two assists on the night.
Later in the first half, Autran again found the Broncos leading scorer Carlos Delgadillo who managed to tap it in the net after Titan keeper Elias closed in on Autran.
Lastly, the final goal came in the 53rd minute when a Titan foul was called inside the box to give the Broncos a penalty kick which was good to lead them to a 3-0 lead for the final 30 minutes of the match.
A trio of Titan veterans, Nigel Patterson, Nicolo D'Amato and Dyllan Stevens led the team by taking two shots a piece, while all six shots on target were from different Titans.
The Titans end their season at 13-8-1, returning to the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row. The mark at 13 wins is the best the program has had since the Titans won 15 in 2000.
"Let's not take away from what these guys have accomplished this year, basically the double. We won the South Division and won the Big West Tournament on the road, that's massive for these guys. And the only thing that I don't want these guys to get into is, that's good enough," said Coach Kuntz. "Because for us, there's only one way we're really going to be happy and that's to get to the pinnacle."
