FULLERTON, Calif. – The Fullerton Titans secured their tournament sweep on Saturday with a pair of wins over nationally ranked, No. 18 Brown and Biola. The Titans fought all the way to sudden death in game one, where they came out on top 12-11 against the Bears. Fullerton fought in another tough battle against the Eagles and came out with another victory, securing the 4-0 weekend.
Titans 12, Brown 11
The Fullerton Titans earned their first ever ranked win over the No. 18 Brown Bears on Saturday in an exciting game that ended in sudden death. The Titans came back after trailing by four to send the game into the two overtime periods and on to sudden death where the Titans defeated the Bears.
Ethan Merritt scored first before Brown posted two on a penalty shot and a powerplay.
Ethan MacLeod then went on to tie the game at two each. Brown and
Cade Zeilinger each tallied one to send the game to the second period in a 3-3 tie. The Bears outscored the Titans 2-1 in the second.
Carmelo Bangs scored the Titans goal with 20 seconds remaining in the half.
Trailing by one at the half, the Titans started to slip away as the Bears tallied four in the third and Fullerton only scored two. Brown scored three straight before Zeilinger and
Jason Honey tallied two to head into the fourth quarter down by two.
In the fourth, the Titans took a hold of the game, posting four straight unanswered goals. Merritt started the fourth, Dobi nabbed back-to-back goals and
Ethan MacLeod put one past the keeper at the four-minute mark to come back and take a 10-9 lead. Brown answered back with a minute and a half left with a powerplay goal to send the game to overtime.
Carmelo Bangs scored on a penalty shot with 16 seconds left in the first overtime period. In the second overtime period, Brown scored with just seven seconds left. With an 11-11 tie, the Titans and Browns took the game to sudden death where Dobi called game. Just 40 seconds into the sudden death period, the Titans freshman nailed one into the cage to secure the program's first ever victory over a ranked opponent.
Dobi scored his sixth hat trick of the season along with an assist, two steals and two field blocks. MacLeod, Merritt, Bangs, and Zeilinger each recorded a pair of goals in Saturday afternoon's game.
Ethan Ivey defended the cage and tallied 13 saves against the Bears.
Titans 14, Biola 12
The Titans finished the Fullerton Mini Tournament sweep with a 14-12 victory over the Biola Eagles on Saturday night. The Titans and Eagles played hard and traded points for majority of the game until Fullerton came out on top.
Biola struck first with a pair of goals before Thuroczy and Merritt responded with back-to-back goals.
Luke Porter and Zeilinger tacked on two for Fullerton, but the Eagles won the quarter with their five to Fullerton's four.
The Titans answered back with a big second quarter, recording five to Biola's two. Dobi, MacLeod, Branco, Paredes and Peterson each recorded a goal in the second for a 9-7 lead at the end of the half.
Biola outscored Fullerton in the third, 3-2, but it didn't stop the Titans goal-scoring leaders from scoring. Joseph and Dobi each fired one past the keeper in the third, going into the fourth quarter with an 11-10 lead.
The Eagles tallied two at the start of the fourth, taking a one goal lead, but the Titans answered back with three unanswered to claim the 4-0 sweep over the weekend.
Dobi led the team with a hat truck, an assist, and six steals. Merritt and Joseph recorded two goals each. Merritt led the team with three assists against the Eagles.
The Titans are back in action next Friday, Sept. 25 at 5:30 p.m. to face Cal Baptist at the Lancer Joust.
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