FULLERTON, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton's senior midfielder Christina Burkenroad recorded a hat trick in the Big West Conference Tournament Semifinals to lift the No. 3 seed Titans over No. 2 seed UC Santa Barbara, 4-2, Thursday night. CSF will make its fourth straight appearance in the Big West Conference Tournament against No. 1 seed Long Beach State Sunday, Nov. 8 at 1:07 p.m. at Titan Stadium. The contest will be aired live on Fox Sports PrimeTicket.
With the victory Cal State Fullerton improves to 15-3-1 on the year, while UCSB ends its season with a 13-6-1 record.
The Titans went into halftime trailing 2-1, but came out of the locker room and netted three goals – two from Burkenroad and one from Connie Caliz – to win the match.
"Tonight our women did a phenomenal job coming out of the locker room," Cal State Fullerton head coach Demian Brown said. "We had to make some adjustments. Santa Barbara is very good. For the coaching staff to have the trust of the team and for our women to respond the way they did is another tremendous measure of maturity."
Burkenroad registered her first-career hat trick to go along with one assist as she totaled seven points to set a single-game Big West Tournament record. Teammate Rebecca Wilson fed Burkenroad the ball on all three occasions as she racked up a trio of assists.
"That's what we've seen all year [from Wilson and Burkenroad]," Brown explained. "Two players who've done everything to prepare for moments like this. It's an enjoyment to watch, but it's definitely not a surprise."
The Titans got on the board first as Burkenroad scored in the 11th minute of action on a pass from Wilson to give Cal State Fullerton a 1-0 lead. However, UC Santa Barbara would counter with a goal of its own in the 19th minute of play as Amanda Ball registered her fifth score of the year.
The Gauchos took a 2-1 lead after a header from Sydney Magnin at 31:48 and held the one-point advantage going into the half.
However, the Titans came out and controlled the second half as Burkenroad evened the score at 2-all just two and a half minutes into the frame.
With the game even at 2-2, Burkenroad passed the ball to Wilson, who shot a cross to a now open Burkenroad who put the ball into the back of the net for the hat trick as the Titans took a 3-2 advantage over the Gauchos.
"[The hat trick] felt amazing," Burkenroad said. "I can't believe it. I couldn't do it without Becca. Earlier in the year I was talking about how I was missing my moments in the game and tonight we knew it was now or never."
With the game on the line, Cal State Fullerton added an insurance goal from Caliz in the 76th minute of action as she found the back of the net after passes from Burkenroad and Tala Haddad.
Fullerton goalkeeper Jennifer Stuart collected the win as she improves to 13-1-0 on the year, while Santa Barbara's Beth Ritter suffered the loss falling to 8-4-1.
