FULLERTON, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton men's soccer lost in the first round of The Big West Championship to UC Davis in penalty kicks (4-5) Wednesday night at Titan Stadium. The game goes down as a 0-0 draw with UC Davis advancing to the next round on PKs.
"I felt so proud of our guys because of the way we prepared for the game and came out. It was a completely different game than the last time we played Davis (a 2-1 loss)," said Head Coach George Kuntz. "We completely dominated this game. We didn't finish opportunities. They had very few great chances and we had some really good chances."
The Titans seemed to control a majority of the game with 60 percent of the ball possession while outshooting UC Davis 28-14.
Both sides had their fair share of chances but the Titans created much more quality chances throughout the 90 minutes, especially in the second half.
Additionally, both goalkeepers had great games with Asger Hemmer recording six saves and Noah Schewengeler of UC Davis recording eight saves.
The Titans had two key opportunities they weren't able to capitalize on late in the second half. The first came in the 77th minute on a shot by Jose de la Torre from inside the 18-yard box that went just wide of goal.
"We needed more shots on goal. We needed to challenge their keeper. We missed the target several times," Kuntz said. "They got a little bit lucky – our balls hit some posts. This is part of the game. We had great chances and open looks, but we had to finish. We didn't."
Just over a minute later, Mario Carlos had a great look at goal that went off the right post and bounced straight to Jorge Quintero who had to take touch before shooting on goal which was saved by the UC Davis goalkeeper.
The two teams played equal in the overtime periods, each recording four shots total. By the end of the second overtime period both sides were visibly exhausted and looking to hang on until penalty kicks.
In PKs, both sides scored the first attempt. However, the UC Davis goalkeeper saved Fullerton's second attempt while the Aggies scored the second attempt to take the advantage. Hemmer guessed the right direction on several attempts but was just shy of getting a stop, leading to UC Davis advancing 5-4 on PKs.
The Titans finish the 2026 season with an 8-6-6 record and 5-3-1 record in Big West play.
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