DAVIS, Calif. – After 70 minutes of action, Cal State Fullerton held a two-goal cushion on the road at UC Davis. But the Aggies scored three goals in the span of 14 minutes to shock the Titans, 3-2, Thursday afternoon at Aggie Soccer Field.
It was the first time all season that the Titans (5-8-0, 2-1-0) surrendered more than one goal in a half. They were outshot 14-3 in the second half by the Aggies (5-5-3, 1-0-1) including a 7-0 advantage in shots on target. Fullerton had recorded just one shot until the 90th minute when the Titans had a couple of shots inside the Aggies box, but came up empty.
"This is a great lesson for our women to learn about the competitiveness of our conference," said Titans head coach Demian Brown. "Credit UC Davis for a great second half but we have to play a full 90 minutes every time."
It was a tale of two halves for Fullerton, who led the Aggies by a pair at halftime.
Fullerton struck in the 21st minute. Jessica Simonian's throw-in ended up in the box, deflecting off a couple of Aggies defenders before Sarah Fajnor got her foot on the loose ball and tucked it into the back of the net to put the Titans up 1-0.
In the 35th minute, the Titans padded the lead as Nano Oronoz dribbled inside the left-side of the box and then lofted a cross to the other side. Aggies keeper Alexis Smith leapt and got a slight punch on the ball but it still came to Tala Haddad on the other side, who knocked it into the goal for a 2-0 advantage.
It remained 2-0 until the 71st minute, when the Aggies got on the board on a goal by Zuzu Romano. Nicole Carson dribbled up the far side and put a cross into the box, where Romano got her right toe on it and snuck it past Titans goalkeeper Morgan Bertsch and into the net to cut Fullerton's lead in half.
In the 75th minute, the Aggies were awarded a penalty kick and Andi Damian got it just past Bertsch, who got her mitts on the ball and it appeared to tiptoe acorss the goal line and off the far post, but the ball was ruled to have crossed the goal line and the game was tied.
In the 85th minute, the Aggies completed the comeback as Sydney Burger sent a cross into the Fullerton box. Alicia Sloss then went vertical and got her right foot on the ball, beating Bertsch to make it 3-2.
The Titans had a last chance to tie it in the final minute as they were awarded a throw-in deep in Aggies territory. The ball sailed into the box and into a sea of bodies. Connie Caliz got the first shot off for the Titans but it was blocked by the defense and then Lindsay Stasinis' shot went wide of the net with one second left on the clock.
Bertsch took the loss despite making eight saves on the day, one shy of her career high.
The Titans will wrap up the week on Sunday evening as they host Long Beach State at 5 p.m. The match will be broadcast on ESPN3.
Notes: Fajnor has now scored a goal in three straight matches… She, Haddad and Maribell Morales are tied for the team lead with three goals on the season while Haddad now has a team-high nine points (3 goals, 3 assists) on the year… Fullerton was 4-0-0 when leading at the half prior to Thursday's loss… The Titans are now 10-2-1 all-time against UC Davis and 5-2-1 at Aggie Soccer Field. The last time Fullerton lost to UC Davis was on Oct. 12, 2008, a 2-1 result for UC Davis… Thursday marked the first time the Titans have surrendered more than two goals in a game and just the fourth time they have allowed multiple goals.