FULLERTON, Calif. - The Cal State Fullerton Titans women's soccer team defeated Long Beach State 3-0 at home on Sunday evening in their final home game of the regular season.
The Titans (7-4-7, 5-1-3 BWC) remained unbeaten at home after posting a 4-0-6 record at Titan Stadium for the regular season. The Titans are also riding a 4-game winning streak and an 8-game unbeaten streak after dropping the conference opener at UC Riverside.
The Titans scored three goals in the first half all within the span of seven minutes with two goals from
Makenna McGill and another by
Isabella Cruz.
Makenna McGill scored her first goal of the game in the 13th minute.
Taya Townsell headed a ball up to McGill near midfield. McGill weaved her way through three Long Beach defenders and was able to beat the Beach keeper for her third goal of the season.
Two minutes later,
Kaylee Noble was taken down outside of the 18-yard box by the Long Beach goalkeeper, Zora Standifer for a foul on top of the box and the Beach GK was given her marching orders after committing a DOGSO foul. With Long Beach forced to switch keepers,
Isabella Cruz saw an opening through the Long Beach defensive wall and sent one past the new Beach keeper to make it a 2-0 game.
The Titans added their third goal 5 minutes later after a corner kick.
Olivia Peraza sent a ball over the Beach's goalkeepers hands and the ball bounced off a Long Beach defender off the line right to McGill's path and she easily slotted it into the back of the net to make it a 3-0 game.
Despite playing a man down, Long Beach kept a lot of the possession for long periods of the game. The Titans defense was able to withstand the pressure and secure their fourth consecutive shutout. The Titans defense has not allowed a goal in 394 minutes and 56 seconds since UC Santa Barbara scored in their 1-1 draw. Within that span, the Titans have shut out three opponents who have secured their spot in the Big West Championships in UC Irvine, UC Davis, and Long Beach State.. This is the fifth best mark in program history that the Titans have shutout opponents from scoring.
The Titans will head to Cal State Bakersfield on Thursday for their final conference game of the season. The Titans have secured their spot in the Six-Team Big West Championship that includes Cal Poly, UC Davis, Long Beach State, University of Hawai'i, and UC Irvine.
THE FINAL SCENARIO
Cal Poly leads the conference with 19 points and will host UC San Diego on Thursday at home.
Cal State Fullerton is second with 18 points and will travel to Cal State Bakersfield on Thursday
UC Davis is third with 17 points and will take on UC Irvine on the road on Thursday
Long Beach State is fourth with 14 points and will host the University of Hawai'i on Thursday
University of Hawai'i is fifth with 13 points and will travel to Long Beach on Thursday night
UC Irvine is sixth with 13 points and will host UC Davis on Thursday
The Titans can finish no worse than third place where they would host a No. 3 vs No. 6 matchup on Sunday, October 29th. If the Titans finish in second place, they will secure a first round bye and will not play again until the semi-finals on Thursday, November 2nd. If the Titans win on Thursday and Cal Poly either ties or loses to UC San Diego, the Titans will secure the Big West Regular Season Championship outright and host the Big West Championship semi's and final on Thursday, November 2nd and Sunday, November 5th.
WATCH THE TITANS ON ESPN+
Titans fans can now watch every home event exclusively on ESPN+. Cal State Fullerton has built a top-tier production studio to give the viewers an ESPN quality production for all games at Titan Stadium. Additionally, all schools in the Big West Conference are committed to producing ESPN quality streams which will allow fans to watch the Titans on ESPN+ for all road conference games.
FOLLOW THE TITANS!
Fans can keep up with the latest in Titan Athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook/FullertonTitans), Twitter (@FullertonTitans), and Instagram (FullertonTitans). In addition, the women's soccer team has established its own Twitter (@FullertonWSOC) and Instagram accounts (@FullertonWSOC).
