FULLERTON, Calif. – With a spot in the Big West Tournament on the line, Cal State Fullerton men's soccer rose to the challenge to defeat UC Riverside by a score of 2-1 Saturday night at Titan Stadium.
With the win the Titans secure a spot in the Big West Conference Tournament for the sixth consecutive year under Head Coach George Kuntz. Fullerton will head into the tournament as the No. 5 seed and will face Cal Poly on the road Wednesday night in the first round.
The Titans and Highlanders played a physical match for the entire 90 minutes as neither team wanted to be denied a postseason appearance. Oscar Flores came up clutch for the Titans when the team needed him most, scoring on a penalty kick in the 83rd minute on what would be the game-winning goal.
A hand ball to deny a goal leads to a PK and @Oflo19 steps up when the lights are the brightest! We lead 2-1 in the 83rd minute #TusksUp pic.twitter.com/Waaz1A4Vl6
— Titans Men's Soccer (@FullertonMSOC) November 3, 2019
Tre McCalla made a great play to get around a defender inside the 18-yard box before passing to a wide open Owen Lambe who would have had a sure goal if not for a handball by the UC Riverside defender which led to the penalty kick for Flores.
The Titans have been a second half team all season and proved that once again Saturday night as they scored two goals in the second half to complete the comeback after trailing 1-0 at halftime. Christian Pinzon scored the equalizer for Fullerton on yet another penalty kick in the 57th minute of action.
57' | We're all tied up! @Sotelo__jessy draws the penalty in the box and @Pinzonnnnnn finishes the PK! #TusksUp pic.twitter.com/SQurtLiE6E
— Titans Men's Soccer (@FullertonMSOC) November 3, 2019
Pinzon and Flores were the driving forces for the Titans all season and continued that trend in a win or go home game as they each scored on penalty kicks in the second half to secure the victory. Pinzon led the team with 21 points on seven goals and seven assists while Flores recorded 19 points in the regular season on seven goals and five assists.
Fullerton finishes the regular season with a record of 11-6-1, the second most wins under Kuntz in the six years he has been at Cal State Fullerton.
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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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Fans can keep up with the latest in Titan Athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook/FullertonTitans), Twitter (@FullertonTitans) and Instagram (FullertonTitans). In addition, the men's soccer team has established its own Twitter (@FullertonMSOC), and Instagram accounts (@fullertonmsoc).
