SPORTS
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THE DAILY TITAN WOMEN’S BASKETBALL Continued from PAGE 1
The Titans showed reason for optimism in their exhibition opener, beating California Baptist University in a blowout with a final score of 70-38. While the win gave Park his first victory as the Titans’ head coach, he still wants to see how his team will fare in the regular season. “I told the kids at the beginning of the day today we’re 0-0. I mean it’s an exhibition game so we’re still 0-0,” Park said. There were no lead changes or ties throughout the game. The Titans darted off to a blazing 11-0 start and never looked back.
“We got a chance to get the rust off. I’m incredibly proud because of their effort, energy and enthusiasm.” Daron Park
Women’s Basketball Coach Despite it being an exhibition game, Park was still pleased with what he saw from his team. “We got a chance to get the rust off. There’s still a lot of things we have to get better at. One thing we tried to work on since April was to just have great energy, great effort and great enthusiasm. Regardless of what happened tonight, I’m incredibly proud because of their effort, energy and enthusiasm,” Park said. Park has limited experience in coaching against Big West teams, but he’s still optimistic that the Titans can compete against the conference’s best. “We got a long ways to go to be putting ourselves in a position to judge the rest of the Big West, but I tell you this, we will compete, and we will play incredibly hard against them,” Park said. Junior forward Kathleen Iwuoha led the way for the Titans, playing for 25 minutes after coming off the bench.
She recorded a double-double for the night, scoring 16 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Senior guard Brianna Barfield added 14 points and seven rebounds. Barfield also had four assists, two steals and shot 4-for6 on her three-point attempts, She hopes to see her team improve throughout the season. “I think we have a lot of room to improve. We’ll take it day by day and try to get better and try to just be focused every day,” Barfield said. The Titans’ fast tempo was too much for the Lancers, and their game plan revolved around it. “We just have to keep the intensity up. We just have to keep running. We just have to set the tempo at a fast pace,” Iwuoha said. Iwuoha played defense on the Lancers by sticking to them like glue along with her double-double performance. “I just feel like every game, go out and just play. I feel like by me having a double-double tonight, it just shows that I can do that with any opponent that we have,” Iwuoha said. Barfield and Iwuoha weren’t the only prolific players on the court though. Senior forward Mya Olivier and junior guard Alex Thomas each added 10 points. Thomas also had two steals, and Olivier nabbed four rebounds. Olivier also registered a perfect shooting percentage from the field and the free throw line. The Titans shot 46.7 percent as a team and shot 27.8 percent from the three-point line. They held the Lancers to a miniature 22.9 shooting percentage. One area of struggle for the Titans was their free throw shooting, as they only shot 33.3 percent from the charity stripe. They settled down in the second half though, making eight out of 16. The Titans will take on Cal State Dominguez Hills at home Friday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. for their second exhibition game. They will face South Dakota for their regular season home opener on Friday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. For more information on women’s basketball and all Titan Athletics, go to FullertonTitans.com.
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OCTOBER 24, 2013
THURSDAY
CSUF falls to No. 5 Matadors Titans lose to top ranked Northridge in an overtime thriller at Titan Stadium VINCENT LA ROSA Daily Titan
Cal State Northridge sophomore midfielder David Turcios scored a little over a minute into the first overtime period to steal the victory from the Cal State Fullerton men’s soccer team, despite the Matadors playing much of the second half and overtime with 10 men. With both teams tied atop the Big West South Division standings with 10 points, a win for either side in Northridge meant sole possession of first place and a spot in the driver’s seat headed towards a first-round bye in the Big West tournament. To start the match, it was the home team looking like the brighter and hungrier of the two sides, with CSUF content to play deep in their own defensive half. The Matadors took advantage of the Titans’ willingness to let them hold the ball for long periods in the first half.
They racked up a slew of offensive statistics, outshooting the Titans 13-1 in the first 45 minutes but with nothing to show for it in the goals column. The Matadors’ best opportunity came with less than a minute to go in the half. A volley by junior midfielder Marino Peixoto screamed just wide of the Titan goal. Despite the effort, both sides went into the halftime break scoreless. Picking up where they left off in the first half, the Matadors again put the Titans under pressure to start the second frame and were rewarded just over five minutes in when senior forward Beto Velasquez’s shot from 18 yards found the upper left corner of the Titan net in the 51st minute. Turning the Titans over in their defensive half, Matador forwards Brian Behrad and Sagi Lev-Ari combined to assist on Velasquez’s fifth goal of the season. A goal down, Titan Head Coach Bob Ammann tweaked his tactics, loosening the restraints on his team and allowing them to push forward
in search of an equalizer. And the move paid off in the 55th minute when Matador defender Trevor Morley was shown a straight red card. Morley was forced to bring down a Titan attacker sprinting clear just outside his own penalty area. With the Matadors down to just 10 men, the Titans continued their aggressive tactics, needing only four minutes to take advantage of their numerical supremacy. Titan junior forward Amara Soumah stripped a CSUN defender just outside the Matador penalty area. After powering by another defender, Soumah guided a low shot past Matador goalkeeper Adam Hobbs and just inside the post. The goal in the 59th minute was Soumah’s third of the season, giving the Titans life in the match with an extra man on the pitch. However, despite being down for just over 35 minutes to end the match, the Matadors showed resilience in their play. They managed to finish the second half level with the Titans on goals at one apiece and
even on shots with five for each team as well. But in the overtime period, the Matadors made sure not to let the Titans linger. Just a minute and 11 seconds into the overtime period, a cross into the Titan box was bobbled by CSUF senior goalkeeper Bryan Escalante, who at that point had played well with three saves on the night. Unfortunately for Escalante and the Titans, his miscue was pounced upon by Turcios, and the Matador midfielder’s spectacular overhead kick was guided into an open net to seal the victory for CSUN. The loss is CSUF’s first in their last four matches. They are now level on points with UC Irvine for second place in the Big West South Division with 10 points apiece. The Matadors’ win secures CSUN’s place alone atop the standings with 13 points for this season. The Titans and Matadors will meet again in two weeks at Titan Stadium on Nov. 4. For more information on men’s soccer and all Titan Athletics, go to FullertonTitans.com.
DEANNA TROMBLEY / Daily Titan
Titans senior guard Alex Thomas drives towards the basket past mutiple Cal Baptist defenders en route to the Titans’ win.
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