Marc Fenelus scored his fifth goal of the season in the 1-0 victory over Cal State Northridge Wednesday at Titan Stadium.
Winnie Huang / Daily Titan
The Cal State Fullerton men’s soccer team edged past Cal State Northridge Wednesday, beating the Matadors 1-0 at Titan Stadium. After the loss against UC Irvine, the Titans were determined to win on home soil.
“That motivated me for tonight because this is our home turf and we have to defend it,” Fullerton winger Mark Vasquez said.
The first opportunity of the game came in the second minute, courtesy of Fullerton’s Ian Ramos.
Two minutes after the opening whistle, Mitchell Bell sent a ball over the top from the Fullerton half. Ramos didn’t hesitate, immediately shooting from 20 yards. However, his shot sailed over the crossbar.
Ramos again led the attack in the fourth minute when he stripped a Northridge player 40 yards from goal. He passed to himself to get by a defender and surged into the box, but his near-post effort was deflected into the corner.
At 18 minutes, the Titans’ constant attack finally resulted in the breakthrough. Ramos threaded the ball to Ritchie Gonzalez, who touched past Matador defender Trevor Morley.
Gonzalez’ shot went straight at Northridge goalkeeper Adam Hobbs, but the rebound landed at the feet of an unmarked Marc Fenelus, who rifled the ball into the back of the net, giving the Titans a 1-0 lead.
In the 30th minute, Fullerton was almost on the scoresheet again. On the left flank, Ramos passed the ball through to Fenelus, who dribbled inside the box and cut to the right to beat his defender.
With the defense stretched, Fenelus passed to Amara Soumah, who collected with his left foot and then fired a low shot to the near post with the outside of his right foot. Fortunately for Northridge, it clattered off the outside of the post.
Neither team was able to create any more clear-cut chances in the first half.
Two minutes after the restart, Vasquez tried his hand from the top of the box, but his low shot skimmed just past the far post.
Despite the quick start, Fullerton was forced to weather the Northridge storm for much of the second half.
In the 67th minute, the Matadors’ Nicolas Camacho took a freekick from the left side. At the far post, teammate Trevor Morley beat his marker and got his foot on the ball. Luckily for the Titans, his shot from five yards went wide.
The 84th minute saw Edwin Rivas collect a rebound at the top of the Fullerton box. He fired from 19 yards, but fortunately for Titan goalkeeper Jeff Salt, the ball took a deflection and ended up going mere inches over the crossbar.
Head Coach George Kuntz praised his players for keeping the Matadors from getting the tying goal.
“It’s a matter of will,” Kuntz said. “Who’s going to have the wherewithal to make it through? We’re asking them to defend and attack, and defend and attack and give us a spark, and it was hard.”
The Titans will play their next game on the road when they take on UC Riverside. For Soumah, that game will be no ordinary game.
“It’s a very emotional game because last year I had an incident with them. To me, everytime I go against them it’s kind of like dogs and cats. But I’m ready for that game, so all I’m looking for is a win over there,” Soumah said.
If they are able to beat the Highlanders, the Titans can retain their second place spot in the Big West Southern Division, or they can even jump into first, depending on how UC Irvine’s game ends up.