NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – In the battle for the Big West Tournament Championship, the Titans and Matadors had to send it into a penalty kick shootout to finalize the game. The Titans prevailed 4-3 in penalty kicks. Cal State Fullerton would go onto to become the 2017 Big West Conference Champions.
Head coach Demian Brown told the Big West, ""I couldn't be happier for our program, on top of the fact that our nine seniors, for them to be able to finish their outstanding career as Big West Conference Tournament champions again, it's almost a speechless type of moment."
In the 56th minute, the Titans capitalized off their notorious corner kicks to earn the goal. Atlanta Primus took the corner that Nano Oronoz would find and head in for her first goal of the season.
In the 80th minute, CSUN tied following a foul on Fullerton that resulted in a penalty kick taken by Marissa Favela.
After ending regulation still tied, the Titans and Matadors fought through two double overtime periods before having to settle in a penalty kick shootout.
The Titans were up first and sent Samantha Koemans who found the back of the net. Sarah Fajnor followed with a blocked shot. Connie Caliz would step up and net the third for the Titans. Tala Haddad followed to put Fullerton over 3-2 in the dual. Kaycee Hoover finished the job for the Titans when she notched the fourth kick to send the Titans to victory.
To start the first half, Fullerton dominated offensively with nine shots. Of the nine shots, three were saved by Co-Goalkeeper of the Year Jovani McCaskill. CSUN was only able to notch one shot as the Titans defense did their part to anchor the line. Fullerton outshot CSUN 16-8.
Morgan Bertsch recorded another accolade onto her stellar year by winning Big West Conference Tournament MVP. Bertsch spent all 110 minutes in goal on Sunday for the Titans. She notched one save for the night and now has 53 saves for her career.
The Titans will find out where their postseason journey will begin, Monday at 1:30 pm PT. The NCAA Selection Show will be streamed on NCAA.com
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