Oct. 18, 2006

Santa Barbara, Calif. -


UPCOMING:

Sat., Oct. 21 -- at UC Santa Barbara, 7 p.m.

2006 RECORDS:

Cal State Fullerton is 5-8-1 overall and 1-4-0 in the Big West Conference

UC Santa Barbara is 8-6-0 overall and 4-2-0 in the Big West Conference

THE COACHES:

Cal State Fullerton's Bob Ammann is 5-8-1 in his first year at CSF and career

UC Santa Barbara's Tim Vom Steeg is 108-44-10 in his eighth year at UCSB and career

SERIES HISTORY:

Fullerton leads the all-time series with UCSB, 22-19-2 (21-19-2 at Div. I status), but the Gauchos have won the last six meetings including a 2-1 win in overtime in Titan Stadium on Sept. 21.

ABOUT THE GAUCHOS:

The Gauchos host UC Davis in a non-conference match on Wednesday night before meeting the Titans. They are tied for first place with Cal State Northridge, each with 12 points. The Gauchos are coming off a 2-0 win over Cal Poly, which beat Fullerton, 3-0, on Oct. 11. UCSB has posted a shutout in all but one of its victories -- the exception the 2-1 double overtime win in Fullerton on Sept. 21. Goalkeeper Kyle Reynish leads the conference with 7 shutouts and has a 1.13 goals against average to go with 29 saves. The leading scorer is freshman forward Bongomin Otii, who got his sixth goal in the win over Cal Poly. He scored 5 goals in the first 5 matches of the season but then went 8 games without a goal.

ABOUT THE TITANS:

Fullerton plays its next four matches on the road, where it has a better record (3-4-1) than in Titan Stadium (2-4-0).

Eugene Brooks shares the Big West Conference lead in goal scoring with UC Irvine's Matt Murphy with 8 goals each. Murphy leads in points, 21 to 18. Both rank No. 26 in the NCAA in goals per game (0.62).

With five victories, the Titans have surpassed last year's total (4-14-1) and have matched the Big West Conference win total (1-9-0). With two road victories (at San Jose State and at UNLV), the Titans have two more road wins than all of last season. They also own a neutral site win (over Oral Roberts at Memphis).

Defender Amir Shafii is tied for second (with Michael Farfan) on the team with 4 goals. The last two have come on free kicks and one other came off a corner kick.

Goalkeepers Brent Douglas and Kevin Puder have almost identical stats although Douglas has played about 50 percent more minutes (727 to 496). Each has 29 saves but Douglas has allowed only 13 goals to 14 by Puder. Douglas' GAA is 1.61 compared to 2.54 for Puder. Douglas is 3-4-1 while Puder is 2-4. With 22 goals, the Titans have surpassed last year's total of 21, which included an opponent own goal.