HONOLULU, Oahu – In one of Cal State Fullerton's best offensive matches of the season, it was the goalkeeper who shined brightest as senior Jennifer Stuart logged her third shutout of the season in a 3-0 Big West Conference victory over Hawai'i Sunday evening at Waipi'o Peninsula Soccer Stadium.
Stuart made six saves in net for the Titans (7-9, 4-2), who are currently in third place in the Big West standings with two matches left to play in the regular season, one point back of UC Irvine and CSUN which are deadlocked at the top of the standings with 13 points. The Titans keeper held the Rainbow Wahine (9-4-2, 2-3-1) scoreless and made some difficult saves, particularly in the second half when Hawai'i tallied seven shots, four on target.
"I'm very impressed with our ladies," said Titans head coach Demian Brown. "Their ability to travel here, battle a very good Hawai'i team and come out on top the way we did is a credit to the program. Now we turn our attention to securing the points needed to compete in the conference tournament."
Stuart's shutout was the 16th of her career, moving her into a tie for second place on the Cal State Fullerton all-time record book. She is now tied with Lindsay Maricic (2010-13), who Stuart backed up when she first arrived at Fullerton.
Offensively, the Titans dominated possession throughout the match especially in the first half when they took a 2-0 lead. Overall, Fullerton outshot Hawai'i 16-11 while also getting five corner kicks while holding the Rainbow Wahine to zero.
The Titans jumped ahead 1-0 in the 13th minute as Kaycee Hoover found the back of the net for the first time in her career. She began the play in the Titans attacking third, passing the ball from the middle of the field to the far sideline where Jessica Simonian received the ball. The Titans defender took one dribble and then sent a cross into the box, where Hoover met the ball near the spot and leapt for a header that beat Rainbow Wahine goalkeeper Monk Berger to the near post.
A few minutes later, the Titans made it 2-0 as Simonian sent a cross from the far sideline to the opposite side of the field. Connie Caliz got her head on the ball and sent it toward the end line a few yards away from the left edge of the 18-yard box. Sarah Fajnor got to the ball uncontested and lofted a sharp-angle, left-footed shot high off the far post, just under the crossbar, where the ball knocked in behind the goal line to give the Titans a two-goal edge in the 16th minute.
After halftime, the Titans continued to put pressure on the Hawai'i defense. In the 50th minute, Tala Haddad took a free kick from just outside box on the near side. Her left-footed strike was on target and looked poised to find the back of the net, but a Rainbow Wahine defender jumped and headed the ball into the cross bar and out to keep it a 2-0 game.
But the Titans would add another in the 66th minute as freshman Atlanta Primus scored the first goal of her Cal State Fullerton career. The play started with Fajnor, who passed the ball to Nano Oronoz about 25 yards away from goal. Oronoz touched the ball over to Hoover who charged up the far side and sent a low cross into the six-yard box, where Primus was charging and knocked in the ball with her right leg to make it 3-0 for Fullerton.
That was more than enough for Stuart and the Titans defense as they kept the Rainbow Wahine off the scoreboard for the final 23 minutes of play.
The Titans have two matches left in the regular season, beginning Friday night at second-place CSUN. The Matadors are tied in points with first-place UC Irvine but have three less wins overall than the Anteaters.
Fullerton will then host said Anteaters on Sunday afternoon in the final match of the regular season, which will also be the Titans' senior day for Ali White, Ivy Diego, Stuart, and Tatiana Rizzotti. Kickoff for that match is set for 2 p.m. with a pre-match ceremony to honor the seniors scheduled prior to first kick.
Notes: Fajnor has now scored five goals in her last six matches. Her five goals have also all come in conference play… Simonian now leads the team with four assists… The Titans are now 10-2-0 all-time against Hawai'i and remained undefeated against the Rainbow Wahine on the road with a 3-0-0 all-time record.