PORTLAND, ORE. - The Cal State Fullerton Titans women's soccer team defeated the University of Portland 1-0  on Thursday night at Merlo Field.

Senior Isabella Cruz scored the game's only goal in the 73rd minute and it was also the Titans' first goal of the 2025 season. 
 

73' | Bella with the breakthrough!!!

Titans take the lead late in the second half

CSF 1, UP 0#TusksUp | @bellacruzz10 pic.twitter.com/Zzlnzc8LjK

— Titans Women's Soccer (@FullertonWSOC) August 22, 2025

"I'm extremely impressed with our program.  Their maturity in travel and in preparation has been amazing in this early part of season." said Demian Brown.  "I have to give a ton of credit to Portland and their women' soccer program.  They challenged us at every turn  I really have to acknowledge our seniors who really guided and propelled us forward tonight."

This was the the Titan's first win over the University of Portland in five attempts.  They were previously 0-and-4 against the Pilots with their last match coming in 2007.

Isaac Ranson picked up right where he left off after earning their second clean sheet to start the season.  Ranson was forced to only make one save as the defense dealt with the offensive pressure from the Pilots. 

Unlike Sunday's opener against Cal, the shot count was much more balanced with a 7-6 shot count in favor of Portland.  The Pilots outshot the Titans 5-to-2 in the first half but the Titans did much more of the attacking in the second half as they outshot the Pilots 4-to-2 in the second half.  Gracie Paton had a great shot saved in the 12th minute forcing Sophia Hills to make a nice save for the Pilots. 

The Titans continued applying pressure in the second half after Kaylin Raibon had a header off target off a corner kick and Cruz attempted a long distance half volley shot.  Finally in the 73rd minute Sasha Amezcua played a ball up to Bella Cruz about 35 yards out from the box.  Cruz and Kayalily Penn ran at the two Pilot defenders with Penn dragging a defender with her which created the opening Cruz needed to dribble into the box and slide it underneath the Portland keeper. For Cruz it was the eighth goal of her Titan career and the fourth game-winner of her four-year career so far.

The Titans defense were able to see out the final 17 minutes to preserve their second straight shutout of the season.  

The Titans return home where they will host UTEP on Sunday evening.  The Titans and Miners have only met once before during the 1996 season where the Titans won 8-1.

SUPPORT THE TITANS!
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. 

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), X (@FullertonTitans) Instagram (@FullertonTitans), YouTube (FullertonTitansAthletics) and TikTok (@FullertonTitans). In addition, the women's soccer team has established its own Twitter (@FullertonWSOC) and Instagram accounts (@FullertonWSOC).