FULLERTON, Calif. – The Fullerton Titans evened out their record on day one of the Fullerton Mini Tournament, taking them to 7-7 on the season after defeating Fresno Pacific and Cal Lutheran.
Titans 11, Fresno Pacific 8
The Cal State Fullerton Titans secured their first win of the Fullerton Mini Tournament against the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds. The Titans outscored the Sunbirds in all but the fourth quarter leading to the 11-8 win for Fullerton.
Marton Thuroczy kicked off the first quarter with an opening goal followed by an FPU goal to tie the game.
Ethan Merritt capped the quarter with a Titans goal for a 2-1 Fullerton lead. The Sunbirds scored first in the second quarter to tie the game before Fullerton tallied two. FPU scored on a penalty before
Francisco Paredes logged his second of the quarter to give the Titans a 5-3 lead after the first half.
Cade Zeilinger caught the eyes of many in the third quarter as he recorded a hat trick in under eight minutes. The Titans junior kicked off the second half with a goal before recording his second of the quarter on a penalty shot at the five-minute mark. Zeilinger finished the hat trick with Fullerton's ninth goal of the game.
Jason Honey and
Carmelo Bangs tallied the remaining two of Fullerton's five third quarter goals.
The Titans led 10-6 heading into the fourth quarter where
Denes Dobi scored one to the Sunbirds pair of goals, running away with an 11-8 win. Titans freshman,
Zachary Shouka got the start in goal, recording eight saves in his first collegiate start.
Titans 18, Cal Lutheran 12
The Titans completed the day one sweep with an 18-12 victory over the Cal Lutheran Kingsmen on Friday night. Three Titans recorded a hat trick in Fullerton's second win of the day.
The Titans and Kingsmen traded goals back and forth in the first quarter after Joseph got the game started. Cal Lutheran took a 4-3 lead with just over three minutes remaining thanks to back-to-back powerplays.
Francisco Paredes put one in the back of the net, but CLU logged one before the end of the quarter. The Titans trailed 4-5 at the end of the first quarter.
Fullerton tallied five goals to Cal Lutheran's two in the second quarter. Zeilinger and
Tony Benedetti scored back-to-back before MacLeod and Dobi tallied two followed by
Jace Peterson at the sound of the buzzer. The Titans had a 9-7 lead going into halftime.
The Titans recorded their highest scoring quarter in the third when they logged seven goals. Dobi got the second half started before the Kingsmen scored their first of three. Dobi struck again, followed by Zeilinger and Bangs, recording three straight for the Titans. Joseph scored a goal in between Cal Lutheran's final two of the third.
Samuel Branco put one past the keeper with 30 seconds remaining and Bangs tacked on one more with one second left on the clock.
Bangs completed his hat trick to start the fourth, giving the Titans a 17-10 lead. Cal Lutheran tallied two in the fourth before
Ryan O'Donovan scored to seal the deal for the Titans.
Dobi, Joseph and Bangs each recorded a hat trick in Friday night's contest. Dobi and Bangs also recorded an assist each.
Cy Hammerstrom defended the cage in the first half, recording four saved before
Ethan Ivey entered the game and logged nine.
The Titans are back at Titan Aquatics Center on Saturday at 12 p.m. against Brown and 6 p.m. to take on Biola.
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