Oct. 6, 2010
FULLERTON, CA -
Complete Release in PDF Format
KICK OFF: After playing its first home match in more than a month, the Cal State Fullerton women's soccer team (3-8 overall) will play a familiar tune, hitting the road for its 2010 Big West Conference openers this weekend in Northern California. The Titans, who at the end of the weekend will have played eight of their last nine away from Titan Stadium, will meet UC Davis on Friday (Oct. 8) at 2 p.m. before heading to Pacific on Sunday (Oct. 10) for a noon kick-off.
BE A FOLLOWER: Fans can keep up with the latest in Titans athletics by following us on Facebook (CSUF Athletics), Twitter (@CSUFAthletics) and Vimeo.com (vimeo.com/fullertontitans). In addition, the women's soccer team has its own Twitter; get the inside scoop at @CSUF_WSoccer.
"CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?": There will be no Fullerton originated broadcast of this weekend's matches, however, both will feature live stats via CBS College Sports' Gametracker interface. Links for both matches are available on the women's soccer schedule page at FullertonTitans.com.
"CAN YOU SEE ME NOW?": Thanks to a partnership between the Big West Conference and the CBS College Sports Network, live video of select Cal State Fullerton women's soccer home and road contests will be streamed live over the Internet via the BigWestTV platform. A monthly subscription of \$9.95 or an annual subscription of \$79.95 delivers exclusive coverage to you. For more information, please visit www.BigWest.org/TV.
IN THE POLLS: Neither Cal State Fullerton, UC Davis, nor Pacific are ranked in the top 25 this week.
ABOUT THE AGGIES: UC Davis enters the weekend with a 5-5-1 overall record and an 0-2 mark in Big West Conference play after falling to Cal State Northridge (2-1) and UC Irvine (6-0) last weekend... the Aggies are unbeaten at home this season, posting a 2-0-1 mark... Allison Kelly leads the team in scoring with five goals while Samantha Faber (3 goals, 1 assist) and Lisa Kemp (2 goals, 3 assists) are second on the team with seven points... Kathleen Brandl has started all 11 matches in net, posting a 1.54 goals against average and 28 saves.
ABOUT THE TIGERS: Pacific enters the weekend with a 3-6-3 overall record and an 0-2 mark in Big West Conference play after falling to UC Irvine (1-0 in double overtime) and Cal State Northridge (1-0) on the road last weekend... the Tigers, who have gone to overtime four times this season (0-1-3), are winless in their last three contests dating back to an 1-0 win over Montana on Sept. 24... nine of Pacific's 12 matches have been away from its home field, but the Tigers are unbeaten at home this season (2-0-1)... Pacific has been outscored by a 13-6 count this season... Angelica Figueroa leads the team with five points (1 goal, 3 assists) as six different players have acounted for the Tigers scoring this season... Jill Medigovich has played the majority of time in net, posting a 0.98 goals against average and 25 saves with a pair of shutouts.
SERIES RECORDS: Cal State Fullerton leads the all-time series with UC Davis by a 5-1 count, winning last year's meeting, 1-0, at Titan Stadium... the Titans are 3-1 all-time on UC Davis' home field, falling in their last visit, 2-1, in 2008... Three of Fullerton's wins have come via the shutout as the Titans have allowed just five goals in the six-match history en route to a 12-5 series scoring lead... Fullerton leads the all-time series with Pacific by a 12-5 count, posting a win in the last meeting between the two by a 2-1 score in double overtime at Titan Stadium last season... the Titans' last trip to Stockton in 2008 ended with a 3-2 defeat... Fullerton is just 4-4 on Pacific's home field... 11 of the 17 all-time meetings have been decided by a single goal - including five of the last six.
FOR OPENERS (BIG WEST STYLE): Cal State Fullerton is 8-5 all-time in Big West openers dating back to 1996, winning three of its last four... the Titans will open conference play against UC Davis for only the second time, but the first since a 2-0 win in 2007 at Davis... Fullerton is also 1-1 vs. UC Santa Barbara, 0-2 vs. Cal Poly, 1-1 vs. Utah State, 1-0 vs. Long Beach State, 2-0 vs. Cal State Northridge, and 2-1-1 vs. UC Riverside.
M'S THE WORD: Ten of Fullerton's 13 goals this season have come via the feet of players whose last names begin with the letter "M": senior Christina Murillo (6 goals), freshman Nikki McCants (2), senior Geminesse Martinez (1), and freshman Lauren Mellano (1). Left out of the club, but no less important, are junior Casey Volk (2) and sophomore Brisa Gonzalez (1).
LUCKY 13: Cal State Fullerton scored its 13th goal of the season last weekend against San Diego, which may not sound earth-shattering, but it's monumental in its own right. With eight matches remaining in the regular season, the Titans have already matched the entire goal output from all of the 2009 season when they found the back of the net 13 times in 19 matches overall. Fullerton's goal total is tied for sixth in the conference (1.18 per game) this season while the 37 points are also tied for sixth. In addition, Cal State Fullerton has scored multiple goals four times already this year, surpassing the output (3 games) from all of last season.
THIS CLOSE: Each of Cal State Fullerton's last three contests have been decided by a single goal, but the Titans have emerged on the winning side just once thanks to a 2-1 victory over San Diego State on Sept. 24. Overall five of the team's 11 contests this season have been one-goal decisions.
PROLIFIC: Senior midfielder Christina Murillo continues to rack up the points in her final season as a Titan, notching her 17th career goal in Fullerton's 2-1 loss to San Diego on Oct. 3. The score moved her into a three-way tie for sixth place on the school's all-time list, joining current assistant coach Lauryn Welch (2003-06) and Tennli Ulicny (1998-01), while her 38 points have her ninth. Murillo, who has accounted for five of the team's last eight goals, set a new career high with her sixth strike this season (she had five as a freshman in 2007) and her 13 points this season are also a career best (11 in 2008 as a sophomore with four goals and three assists).
NEXT ON THE LIST...: Murillo needs four more goals this season to tie Kellie Cox (2001-05) for fifth place on the school's all-time list and five more to match Amy Barnes (1996-99) for fourth... she needs eight more points to match Welch's career total of 46 career points for eighth place.
MORE ON MURILLO: Murillo enters the weekend ranked third in the Big West with 13 points (6 goals and an assist), third in points per game (1.18), tied for third in goals, and third in goals per game (0.55)... her 17 goals this season are far and away the most by any active Titan as senior Danielle Bitonti is second with six... the six goals this season by Murillo are the most by a Fullerton player in a single season since Lauren Cram scored six times in 2007.
CHANGE IS GOOD: Making only her second start of the season last week at Loyola Marymount, sophomore goalkeeper Jessica Change put forth a valiant effort in keeping the Titans in the contest, making a career-high eight saves - including two in overtime - in Fullerton's overtime defeat in Los Angeles. In the process, Change, whose previous career high was four saves in her first career start against New Mexico on Oct. 25, 2009, posted the most saves for a Fullerton keeper since Shannon Simpson finished with nine stops in a 1-1 draw with Utah on Sept. 21, 2008, in Salt Lake City.
A "GEM" OF AN ASSIST: Redshirt senior Geminesse Martinez posted her first assist of the season and the 10th of her career in the Titans' victory at San Diego State, ranking her as just one of 15 players in school history to reach double digits in that career category. Fullerton's active assists leader enters this week's contests with 14 career points - the second-highest total among active Titans behind only teammate and fellow senior Christina Murillo.
WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER: Junior Casey Volk turned in her second game-winning goal of the season against San Diego State as her 54th-minute strike turned out to be the difference in a 2-1 victory. Volk, who ranks second on the team in scoring this year with a pair of goals and two assists, also tallied the game-winner against then-No. 18 UNC Greensboro back on Sept. 5. Her two goals this season are one more than in her previous two years combined with the Titans while her two assists matched her career total entering the 2010 campaign.
AWWW, SHOOT!!!: Cal State Fullerton has been outshot in eight of its 11 matches thus far this season and enters this weekend last in the league with 90 shots overall - 35 shots back of eighth-place UC Riverside (125). The Titans have taken more than 10 shots in a game twice and have held the advantage in shot column just three times this season: unleashing a season-best 20 volleys against Eastern Washington on Aug. 29 and 12 shots against Creighton. On the plus side, when Cal State Fullerton has taken a shot, the Titans have usually tried to make it count as just under 47 percent of their shots have been put on frame (42-of-90).
STIRRING SPEECH, COACH: Whatever fourth-year head coach Demian Brown has been saying in the locker room at halftime seems to be working for the Titans' offense as eight of their 13 goals this season have come in the second half as well as two-thirds (56) of their 90 total shots on the year.