Cal State Fullerton

FULLERTON, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton men's soccer lost to Cal State Bakersfield by a final score of 2-1 on senior night at Titan Stadium Saturday night. With the loss the Titans drop to 4-9-4 on the year and 0-5 in Big West play. 

The Titans had an early set back as Fernando Valenzuela was shown a red card in the 35th minute, leaving the team down a man for the remainder of the game. The senior exited early in his final game at Titan Stadium. In four years with Fullerton, Valenzuela has recorded 36 points on 13 goals and 10 assists in 68 games played. 

Fullerton weathered the early red card and headed into halftime locked in a scoreless 0-0 draw. Despite playing a man down, the Titans kept pace offensively, recording five first-half shots to CSUB's six.

The game quickly turned in the second half as Cal State Bakersfield scored just 51 seconds after the restart to take a 1-0 lead. The Roadrunners added to their lead in the 71st minute on a penalty kick after a called handball in the box. 

The Titans didn't quit, earning a free kick from just outside the 18-yard box in the 82nd minute that Jose de la Torre hit off the crossbar. 

In the 88th minute, de la Torre got another shot on a free kick from a similar position and this time buried it in the top right corner to cut the deficit to 2-1. De la Torre now has 13 points on the year with four goals and five assists. 

The Titans had two late chances to equalize. In the 89th minute, Aiden Bengard fired a left-footed strike from outside the 18-yard box that sailed just wide of the net. Julian Borja had one final opportunity with 36 seconds remaining, putting a shot on target off a bouncing ball, but the CSUB goalkeeper made the save.

With the loss the Titans are eliminated from The Big West Championship. Fullerton concludes the season next Saturday at Sacramento State.

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WATCH THE TITANS ON ESPN+
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