Oct. 17, 2007
Riverside, Calif. - Zach Walker's free kick from near midfield sailed into the Cal State Fullerton net with one second remaining in regulation Wednesday afternoon as UC Riverside denied the Titans their first Big West Conference men's soccer victory of the season with a 2-2 tie after 20 minutes of overtime.
The outcome leaves the Titans with a 4-7-2 overall record and an 0-4-2 Big West mark while the Highlanders come out 4-3-5, 1-1-3 after their school record fifth tie of the season.
A textbook goal -- a crisp cross from Michael Farfan on the right to a volley in the goal mouth by James Maynard -- had given Fullerton a 2-1 lead with about 30 minutes to play.
The late drama began near the UCR goal when the Titans were unable to maintain possession in the far right corner. UCR got a throw-in and then sent a long kick downfield. Ben Hofstetter was called for a foul with about 15 seconds left as the ball trickled toward the sideline and the clock ticked down. Freshman T.J. Detviler touched the ball and was shown a yellow card and the clock stopped with one second to play. The referee had the clock reset to four seconds and Walker launched a looping kick that cleared a mass of 20 players (including the UCR goalkeeper) and Titan goalkeeper Kevin Puder, who was jostled on the play and couldn't get high enough to keep the ball from arcing into the net with one tick on the clock.
In overtime, Puder made three brilliant saves -- two one a one-on-one situation with UCR's Cito Soriano -- to preserve the tie.
Each team trickled a ball into the opponent's net in the first half. Brandon Plummer gave UCR the first lead in the 17th minute when he booted a loose ball past Puder after a 3-man advantage rush and cross from the right corner.
Shay Spitz scored an equalizer for Fullerton in the 35th minute. He dribbled through the UCR defense, emerged from a two-man challenge and from a sharp angle to the left of the box booted a shot which caromed off a UCR defender and past goalkeeper Charles Alamo.
Alamo finished with 3 saves while Puder was credited with 9.
Fullerton plays again on Saturday afternoon at UC Davis.