FULLERTON, Calif. — Cal State Fullerton men's water polo defeated Chapman 14-8 before falling to Air Force 12-8 Friday on day one of the Titan Invitational. The results move the Titans to 2-4 on the season.
Titans 14, Chapman 8
After netting just one goal in the opening period, Fullerton dominated the second and third periods, out scoring the Panthers 9-3 during those frames. Togan Ozbek led the Titans with a match-high four goals, while Julian Nichols added three. Goalie Garrett Henderson totaled an impressive 14 saves to lead the Fullerton defense.
The Titans fell behind 2-1 at the end of the first period, but a pair of goals from Nichols and one from Ozbek capped a 3-0 Fullerton run to give the team a 4-2 lead. Ozbek added one more as the Titans led 5-4 at the half.
Back-to-back goals from Ethan Cooney fueled a 4-0 Fullerton run in the third. Bende Aubeli added a score off an assist from Nico D'Angel to give the Titans a 10-5 lead heading into the final period. Jacob Hatch, Zack Ewing, Ozbek and Shelby Johnson each scored in the fourth as Fullerton came away with the 14-8 win.
Titans 8, Air Force 12
Julian Nichols scored off a power play opportunity to put Fullerton up 1-0 early. Air Force then scored the next four to go up 4-1. But the Titans answered, with a pair of scores from Aubeli and goals from Hatch, D'Angelo and Dominic Hernandez capping a 5-0 run to give Fullerton a 6-4 advantage near the end of the first half.
Teams traded goals to start the second half, with Nichols and Hatch scoring to tie things up at 8-8. But the Falcons finished strong, scoring the final four goals of the match to take the 12-8 win.
Fullerton returns to action tomorrow, Sept. 14, with matches against Cal Lutheran at 10:30 a.m. PT and Concordia at 5:00 p.m. PT on the final day of the Titan Invitational.
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Fans can purchase tickets for various Cal State Fullerton athletic events by visiting FullertonTitansTickets.com. The Athletic Ticket Office can also be contacted by phone at 657-278-2783 or by email at athletictixs@fullerton.edu. The Ticket Office is located at the Titan House off of Gymnasium Drive at the eastern end of the Intramural Fields and is open from 10 am – 4 pm PT, Monday – Friday.
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