Cal State Fullerton at San Francisco
Friday, Sept. 16 | 7 P.M. PT
Nogoesco Stadium | San Francisco, CA
Live Stats: fullertontitans.com
Live Stream: fullertontitans.com
Series: CSUF trails 5-12-2
Cal State Fullerton at St. Mary's
Sunday, Sept. 18 | 1 P.M. PT
St. Mary's Stadium | Moraga, CA
Live Stats: fullertontitans.com
Live Stream: fullertontitans.com
Series: CSUF leads 5-1-2
FULLERTON, Calif. -- The Cal State Fullerton men's soccer squad heads up north for a pair of matches this weekend against San Francisco on Friday and St. Mary's on Sunday.
The Titans face the Dons at 7 p.m. PT on Friday at Nogoesco Stadium in what will be the 20th meeting between the two programs. On Sunday, CSUF will finish off its eight-match road trip against the Gaels at 1 p.m. PT at St. Mary's Stadium.
Both matches will have a live stream available for fans to watch, along with live updates on the Cal State Fullerton men's soccer Twitter page (@CSUFMensSoccer).
RUNDOWN vs. San Francisco
-After two-straight victories in San Diego, the Titans find themselves on a roll heading into the seventh match of an eight match road trip to start the season when they play San Francisco on Friday at 7 p.m. PT at Negoesco Stadium.
-It will be the 20th meeting between Fullerton and the Dons as the Titans took last year's match in Fullerton, 3-0, thanks to two goals from Diego Sanchez and a magnificent free kick strike from Nicolo D'Amato. CSUF also won the previous meeting in San Francisco back in 1993, 1-0.
-The Dons will look to bounce back from back-to-back losses in their last two after starting the season at 2-1 with wins over Cal St. Bakersfield (2-1) and UC Davis (2-1). San Francisco is an experienced team who has 11 returners from last year's squad who started at least half of last season's matches.
RUNDOWN vs. St. Mary's
-Concluding Friday's match against the Dons, Fullerton will make its way to St. Mary's Stadium on Sunday at 1 p.m. PT to take on the Gaels for the first time since 2010.
-This will be ninth meeting in both programs' history as Fullerton currently leads the all-time series, 5-1-2. The Titans have gone unbeaten in the last four matches with the last one finishing in a tie at Saint Mary's back in 2010. Prior to that match, CSUF won three-straight matches against the Gaels.
-Like the Titans, the Gaels have played one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country with matches against California, Stanford, Washington and UC Santa Barbara to open up the season. Currently, St. Mary's sits at 1-3-2 after defeating UNLV last Sunday at home, 4-1.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
-USF's Leon Schwarzer (Jr., MF): A transfer from USC Upstate who has started all five games for the Dons and produced an assist and a game-winning goal against Cal St. Bakersfield.
-St. Mary's Stephen Dougherty (So., MF): Dougherty leads the Gaels with four points so far this year and has collected a goal and two assists. The sophomore has started five of six matches for St. Mary's and looks to be the key to success for the Gaels' midfield.
SHOTS! SHOTS! SHOTS!
Cal State Fullerton has dominated in the attacking half this year as they have outshot foes, 83-35. Also, the Titans are drawing corner kicks by a 2.5:1 margin with the total being 51-20. As the attacking threat gets even stronger, look for Fullerton to score even more goals as the season moves along.
TITANS DO WORK IN SAN DIEGO!
As the Titans made their way to San Diego they had a record of 1-3-0, but a weekend down south would change that as Fullerton got two big wins over Memphis and UTRGV to get its record back to .500 at 3-3-0. On Friday, CSUF trailed early 1-0, but went on to score four-straight goals to defeat the Tigers, 4-1. Sunday's match against the Vaqueros would be a lot close as the two squads went to double overtime before Titan Alex Heilmann score the late-winner in the 102nd minute to give Fullerton the 1-0 victory and collect his sixth goal of the season.
HEILMANN'S HOT START
Alex Heilmann has been everything and then some for the Titan attack this season as the La Habra native currently has six goals this season, which is the most in the Big West and sixth nationally. The senior also leads the conference in points with 12 so far. After a weekend where he scored two goals, including the game-winner against UTRGV, Heilmann was named the Big West Men's Soccer Offensive Athlete of the Week. He was the first Titan to receive the weekly offensive honor since Brandon West did last September.
FAMILY REUNION
San Francisco head coach Eddie Soto will face his alma mater in Friday's match against the Titans as he graduated from Fullerton back in 1995. Soto was a spectacular player with the Titans as he was a two-time All-American selection ('92 &'93) and holds the single-season goals record with 18 in 1994. He also led the Titans to the NCAA Semifinals for the first time in 1993. Soto also served as an assistant coach at CSUF for three years (2001-03).
BACK ON TOP
After a slow 0-2 start, the Titans have won three of their last four matches to get back to .500 and sit at the top of the South division in the Big West. The only team in the conference off to a better start than Fullerton is Santa Barbara who has a 4-1-0 record and is ranked No. 13 in the country. Defense has been the key to recent success for the Titans as they've only surrendered four goals in their last four contests and recorded their first clean sheet of the year last Sunday with a 1-0 double overtime victory over UTRGV in San Diego. The Titan attack has also been stepping up as of late by scoring nine goals in the past four matches, including a four goal performance against Memphis last Friday. Currently, Fullerton leads the Big West in shots and corners by at least 10 in each of those categories.
GUERIN MAKING MOST OF OPPORTUNITY
True-freshman Paul-Andre Guerin has stepped into the back net and made an instant impact for the Titans as the French native is currently second in the Big West with a goal against average of 0.97 in 466 minutes of action. Guerin also recorded his first clean sheet of his college career in last Sunday's double overtime win over the Vaqueros, where the freshman saved a crucial PK in the closing minutes of regulation to force overtime.
LOOK GOOD, PLAY GOOD!
Titan Stadium received some upgrades this summer as the 24-year-old venue got a well-deserved facelift. The upgrade includes nine large-formate vinyl graphic, two large-format banners encased in an aluminum frame, dimensional LED signage on the back side of the press box, paint on the field-level bowl, repair and paint of existing handrails and 1400 feet of wide screen to enclose the venue. "Over the last two years, we have continually made upgrades to Titan Stadium, which we believe will make our venue an attractive destination for future Titans as our men's and women's soccer programs build upon their recent success and conference championships," Fullerton Director of Athletics Jim Donavan said.
FRIDAYS AT FULLERTON
With the start of the 2016-17 athletic season, CSUF introduces Fridays at Fullerton which is a membership club designed to enhance the Titan game day experience. The membership will feature a beer/wine hospitality area at every Friday home competition for all sports. Those interested in joining the club can visit www.fullertontitans.com/donate/Fridays_at_Fullerton for more information.
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL
Make sure to follow @CSUFMensSoccer on Twitter and like the Cal State Fullerton Men's Soccer page on Facebook to keep up with the Titans. Also, make sure to give a follow to @FullertonTitans on Twitter and Snapchat.