FULLERTON, Calif. – The 2017 season was another successful one for the Cal State Fullerton men's soccer program as it took home its third Big West Tournament Championship in four years, leading to its third NCAA Tournament appearance in four seasons. Fullerton finished the season with a record of 10-8-4 while going 4-4-2 in the Big West to earn a share of the South Division title with CSUN.
In each of his four years at the helm of Fullerton's men's soccer program, Head Coach George Kuntz has led the team to double-digit victories while locking up the No. 1 seed in the South Division two out of the four years.
After a somewhat slow start to the season, the Titans went on a tear, going 3-0-1 over a stretch of four games with wins over San Francisco, Vermont and UNLV, while out-scoring its opponents 7-2.
Following a conference-opening loss to UC Santa Barbara, the Titans bounced back with a momentum swinging win over Cal Poly on the road, leading Fullerton to a 4-4-2 finish in the Big West to earn them a share of the South Division title.
Fullerton earned a bye in the first round of the Big West Tournament finishing with the tie-breaker over co-south division champs CSUN. The Titans then took down UC Riverside 2-1 before heading to Davis to defeat the Aggies in a thrilling match that came down to penalty kicks.
After securing the Big West Conference Tournament Championship the Titans received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four season. In the first round of the tournament the Titans squared off with the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif. The Titans battled tough while dealing with rainy weather conditions but ultimately fell to the Tigers 2-1.
CHAMPIONSHIP OR BUST: In his four years at Cal State Fullerton, Head Coach George Kuntz has led the team to the Big West Tournament Championship match each of the four seasons, while winning three out of the four. Fullerton is now tied with UC Santa Barbara for the record with four-straight appearances in the tournament finals.
KUNTZ CONTROLS THE BIG WEST: In the 10 years that the Big West has had a conference tournament to decide the champion, Kuntz and his teams have won seven out of the 10 championship matches.
GOALKEEPING PROPELS TITANS IN TOURNAMENT... AGAIN: In the Titans back-to-back Big West Championships in 2014 and 2015, goalkeepers Jeff Salt (2014) and David Elias (2015) were awarded Big West Tournament Most Valuable Player for there stellar player in net. 2017 was much of the same as Paul-Andre Guerin earned Big West Tournament MVP after saving his best performance of the year for the tournament finals. Guerin made six spectacular saves in the match, three of which were called "world class saves" by UC Davis Head Coach Dwayne Shaffer.
SIX TITANS EARN CONFERENCE HONORS: The Cal State Fullerton men's soccer program continues to add to its list of prestigious conference honors, as six Titans earned All-Big West honors. Ross McPhie, Samuel Goni and Corentin Ohlmann headlined the selection as they were named to the All-Big West First Team. The three players are the first trio to be named to the conference first team in the history of the program. Along with earning first team honors, McPhie was also named co-midfielder of the year, which is also the first time in the history of the program an athlete has earned midfielder of the year honors.
Senior Diego Sanchez earned second team honors while Guerin was given honorable mention. Freshman Irving Arvizu was named to the Big West All-Freshman team after his impressive year defensively for the Titans.
In addition to being named to the All-Big West First Team, Goni and McPhie were named the to United Soccer Coaches All-Far West Region Third Team. Goni led the Titans in both total points with 19 and goals scored with nine. Goni's 19 total points ranked him fifth overall in the Big West Conference while his nine goals on the season ranked him third in the conference. McPhie was second on the team with 17 total point while tallying seven goals and three assists on the season.
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Fans can purchase tickets for various Cal State Fullerton athletic events by visiting FullertonTitans.com/Tickets.The Athletic Ticket Office can also be contacted by phone at 657-278- 2783 or by emailat athletictixs@fullerton.edu. The Ticket Office is located at the Titan House off of Gymnasium Drive at theeastern end of the Intramural Fields and is open from 10 am – 4 pm PT, Monday – Friday.
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