Oct. 20, 2009
Fullerton, Calif. -
LOOKING AHEAD...
10/21 at UC Riverside* &\#149; 7 p.m.
10/24 at UC Santa Barbara* &\#149; 7 p.m. Audio
KICK-OFF: The Titans go on the road this week to face the cellar-dwelling Highlanders at UC Riverside (1-12, 0-5-0) and then Big West Conference co-leader UC Santa Barbara (10-3-1, 4-1-0 and ranked No. 6, 7 or 8 in the national polls).
SERIES RECORDS: Fullerton is 4-1-1 against UC Riverside over the past three seasons and leads the all-time Div. I series, 11-7-1. Fullerton is 21-23-2 vs. UCSB but has lost the last 10 meetings, the last five each by a single goal.
TOURNEY SEEDING:The Big West Conference post-season tournament involves the top four teams and the Titans currrently are alone in third place with 9 points. UC Irvine, Cal State Northridge and UC Davis each have 6 points. UCI and CSUN have played one less match than Fullerton or Davis.
ABOUT THE HIGHLANDERS : UCR has lost its last nine matches, five of them by a single goal. Its win came at home vs. San Jose State, 2-1, on Sept. 13. Tyler Wilson and Cesar Diaz each have two goals but UCR has only 9 in 13 games while giving up 26.
ABOUT THE GAUCHOS: UCSB is coming off a 1-0 loss at Cal State Northridge and doesn't play again until hosting the Titans. The defeat snapped a 5-game winning streak that saw the Gauchos outscore the opposition, 9-0. Goalkeeper Sam Hayden has a 0.861 goals against average. Michael Nonni has 5 goals and 6 assists to lead the attack.
ON THE UPSWING: Fullerton hasn't won as many as 8 matches since the 2003 team went 8-10-2. In conference play, Fullerton hadn't won as many as 3 matches since the 2006 team went 3-7-0. Fullerton hasn't had a winning overall record since the 2000 team went 15-6-1 and hasn't had a winning conference record since the same side went 6-0-1 to win the Pacific Division title of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
NO REST FOR TREVOR: Sophomore goalkeeper Trevor Whiddon has played all but one match and 8:57 this season. He got his first solo shutout vs. UC Davis on Saturday night. Pablo Gonzalez played the final 8:57 of Whiddon's 3-0 win over Fairleigh Dickinson and went the distance in the 2-1 loss at Cal State Bakersfield.