SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton men's soccer earned a 0-0 draw on the road against No. 24 UC Santa Barbara while playing the last 15 minutes down a man. The Titans are now 7-4-3 and 2-1-1 in Big West play.
After the Gauchos controlled a large portion of the possession through the first 10 minutes of action, the Titans quickly showed they had the speed and gameplan to put the pressure on Santa Barbara's defense.
The Titans had all of the quality chances in the first half and through the first 30 minutes of the second half. Fullerton outshot Santa Barbara nine to seven, with four of them on goal to the Gauchos just one shot on goal.
Edward Salazar had a good header on goal in the 10th minute off a corner kick but was unable to put the ball in the back of the net.
Jessy Sotelo had a perfect ball into the box while running full speed down the sideline to Reziq Banihani's head but the Gaucho's goalkeeper made a great save to keep it a scoreless game.
After initially receiving a yellow card, Julian Varela was shown a red card in the 75th minute of play that forced the Titans to play down a man for the final 15 minutes.
Fullerton's defense did a great job of stifling the Gaucho's attack to earn the point and remain in second place in the Big West standings.
The Titans are back on the pitch at Titan Stadium Wednesday against UC San Diego. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m.
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