Nov. 5, 2010

Fullerton, Calif. - Cal State Fullerton seniors Antonio Vernaschi, Mark Nelson and Celso Alvarez play their final games in Titan Stadium Saturday night when Fullerton hosts UC Irvine at 7 p.m. in a pivotal Big West Conference men's soccer match.

Alvarez is featured in an Everyday Champions segment, chronicling his appreciation for the scholarship that gave him the opportunity to go to college.

Alvarez: Everyday Champion Video

The game will determine seeding for the post-season tournament next week and may determine if Fullerton is even in the field. If the Titans lose to the Anteaters and UC Riverside scores at least twice AND wins at UC Santa Barbara, then the Titans are left out by the tie-breaker scenarios. UCI, which routed Fullerton, 7-2, in Irvine a few weeks ago, is playing to hold onto the No. 1 seed ahead of UCSB, which is one point behind in the standings.

Here is the tie-breaker situation, courtesy of the Big West and its team of attorneys:

UCI - Currently has 20 points. Can clinch outright title and \#1 seed with win or UCSB loss. If UCI is tied for first with UCSB, UCI would be the \#1 seed because they have the most points against the teams it and UCSB have played twice.

UCSB - Currently has 19 points. Can clinch outright title and \#1 seed with a win and UCI loss or tie. Otherwise, is slotted in the \#2 position.

Cal Poly - Currently has 14 points. Can clinch \#3 seed with a win or tie, or if CSF loses or ties. Will be \#4 seed if it loses and CSF wins. If CP and CSF tie with 15 points, CP owns tiebreaker by virtue of head-to-head win.

CSF - Currently has 12 points. Can clinch \#3 seed with win and CP loss. Clinches \#4 seed with a tie or a loss and UCR tie or loss.

UCR - Currently has 9 points. Can be tied for \#4 with UCD and CSF with a win. In that case, the following happens:

UCD gets eliminated in the 3-way because it has gone 0-2 against UCSB, while both CSF and UCR will have gone 1-1. So then you go to the two-team tiebreakers.

In the 2-way between CSF and UCR, it is tied in every tiebreaker until 13.19.1.4 which is goals in away conference games. As of now, CSF has 7 to UCR's 5. UCR has to win Saturday AND score at least two goals to even this up. If this happens, move on to 13.19.1.5 which is goal differential in all conference matches. As of now, CSF is -8 and UCR is -5. So UCR has the edge there no matter what.

So basically this, if CSF loses and UCR wins AND scores two or more times Saturday, UCR is in.