Irvine, Calif. – The Fullerton Titans secured their first win of the 2026 season in the final game of the UCI Tournament on Saturday. After falling to No. 3 Stanford by a final score of 16-4, the Titans found their way into the win column with a 13-8 victory over Redlands.
Titans 4, Stanford 16
The Titans struggled in game one on Saturday when they faced the nationally ranked Cardinal. Stanford opened up the game with eight unanswered goals before
Samuel Branco fired one past the keeper for the first Titans goal of the day. At the end of the first half, the Titans trailed 1-11.
In the second half, the Titans found a bit of momentum, but not enough to catch up to Stanford. The Cardinal opened the latter half with back-to-back goals, taking a 13-1 lead.
Ethan MacLeod and Ryan O'Donnovan closed out the third quarter with a pair of goals, heading into the fourth by a score of 13-3.
Jason Joseph scored a goal at the beginning of the fourth period, but Stanford tacked on three more to defeat Fullerton 16-4.
Ethan Merritt led the team with two field blocks, while
Jace Peterson led with a pair of steals. In the cage,
Ethan Ivey started and recorded five saves.
Cy Hammerstrom also saw time in the cage, playing the second half, where he logged four saves.
Titans 13, Redlands 8
The Titans recorded their first victory on Saturday evening with a 13-8 win over the Redlands Bulldogs. Game two had a lot more back and forth action, but five unanswered Titans goals to end the game sealed the first win of the season.
Fullerton took advantage of the Bulldogs mistakes in the first quarter, scoring their first two goals on a penalty shot and a power play. Redlands outscored the Titans 3-2 in the first quarter.
Three minutes into the second quarter,
Marton Thuroczy and
Cade Zeilinger logged back-to-back goals to take a 4-3 lead. Redlands only found the back of the net once in the second frame, but
Denes Dobi scored in the final minute of the half, giving the Titans a 5-4 lead going into the second half.
Redlands added one to their name at the start of the third before Dobi and
Carmelo Bangs each recorded their second goal of the day. After the Bulldogs nabbed a pair of goals, Merritt recorded his first of the season. Joseph capped the third quarter with the Titans ninth goal of the game.
Heading into the final frame, Fullerton led 9-8. Merritt, Dobi, Zeilinger and Bangs each scored in the fourth quarter. All four fourth quarter goals were unanswered, leading to Fullerton's 13-8 victory.
Dobi and Bangs both recorded a hat trick in the Titans win in Irvine. Bangs also logged two drawn exclusions, two steals, and three field blocks against Redlands. Branco tallied three assists for the Titans. Ivey was two saves short of matching his career-high 13 saves in a single game.
The Titans will compete in the Inland Empire Classic next weekend in Claremont where they will face Fresno Pacific and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps as well as familiar faces, Concordia and Redlands.
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