Oct. 31, 2006
Fullerton, Calif. -
UPCOMING:
Wed., Nov. 1, at UC Riverside, 3 p.m.
Sat., Nov. 4, Cal Poly SLO, Titan Stadiium, 7 p.m.
2006 RECORDS:
Cal State Fullerton is 5-11-1 overall and 1-7-0 in the Big West Conference
UC Riverside is 5-10-2 overall and 2-4-2 in the Big West Conference
Cal Poly SLO is 7-7-4 overall and 3-4-2 in the Big West Conference
THE COACHES:
Cal State Fullerton's Bob Ammann is 5-11-1 in his first year at CSF and career. He is 1-0 vs. UCR and 0-1 vs. Cal Poly.
UC Riverside's Junior Gonzalez is 18-32-4 in his third year at UCR and career. He is 3-2 vs. Fullerton.
Cal Poly's Paul Holocher is 7-7-4 in his first year at Cal Poly and 117-34-13 in his career including 1-0 vs. Fullerton.
SERIES HISTORIES:
Fullerton leads the all-time series vs. UC Riverside, 8-6, including a 4-2 win in Titan Stadium on Oct. 7. In the last two meetings, Fullerton has jumped out to 2-0 leads. At UCR last year, the Highlanders scored three times in the final 13 minutes for a 3-2 win. On Oct. 7, the Highlanders tied the match, 2-2, but Fullerton got a goal from Skyler Thuresson 16 seconds later and Gabriel Farfan added another goal 16 minutes later for the 4-2 victory.
Fullerton leads the all-time series vs. Cal Poly, 13-5, despite a 3-0 Mustangs' win on Oct. 11 in San Luis Obispo.
ABOUT THE HIGHLANDERS:
UCR snapped a 3-match winless streak with a 2-0 victory Saturday at home vs. Cal Poly. The Highlanders had not scored in their previous three matches, a scorelss tie with Cal State Norhridge and road losses at UC Irvine and UC Davis. In fact, they had only the two goals against Fullerton on Oct. 7 and a game-winner in a 1-0 win over first-place UC Santa Barbara in a span of 8 matches. Goalkeeper Charles Alamo has played every minute of the Highlanders' season and sports a 1.70 goals against average. Nathan Paterson is the leading scorer with 4 goals and 2 assists for 10 points.
ABOUT THE MUSTANGS:
Cal Poly has only the match at Fullerton remaining on its schedule. The Mustangs need a victory to manage a .500 season in the Big West and a winning overall record. They are coming off the aforementioned 2-0 loss at UC Riverside. Six players have provided the game-winning goal this year with only Jose Garcia turning the trick twice. He leads the team with 4 goals and 10 points. Goalkeeper Eric Branagan-Franco has 7 shutouts this year and the best goals against average in the conference at 0.76.
ABOUT THE TITANS:
Eugene Brooks shares the Big West Conference lead in goals with UC Irvine's Matt Murphy at nine. Murphy and the Anteaters host UC Santa Barbara and visit Cal State Northridge in their final regular-season matches. They will need at least one win or an at-large NCAA berth to continue their season beyond this weekend.
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.
Seniors Marco Rodriguez, Taylor Sheldrick, Yaron Shlomi and Brooks will conclude their Titan careers on Saturday.