Senior Garrett Losee fires a shot against the University of Nebraska-Omaha on Sunday afternoon.
Winnie Huang / Daily Titan
The Cal State Fullerton men’s soccer team has finally started to find their groove after a couple of home wins this weekend to give them their first three-game winning streak of the season.
The first win on Friday was a tightly contested 1-0 game against Santa Clara that marked the first home win as a Titan for first-year Head Coach George Kuntz.
Kuntz sent out goalkeeper David Rodriguez Elias for his third game in between the pipes. The sophomore was only forced to make one save, but recorded his first clean sheet of the season. Elias has been praised by his defense and is a good leader.
“(Elias) is a great guy, we get along off the pitch as well. We listen to each other, he gives me information and I give him information,” junior center back Colin Okirie said. “He coaches the back line very well … we were very organized.”
The game felt like a chess match during the first fifteen minutes, with both teams feeling each other out and failing to get any good looks on offense.
The first chance of the game came in the 17th minute when senior midfielder Ian Ramos had his shot from the top of the box stuffed by Bronco goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh. Ramos gave the ball another ride with a half-volley strike from outside the box, but the shot didn’t test McIntosh and sailed harmlessly to the right of the post.
The teams headed to the locker room scoreless, as the Titans held the Broncos without a first-half shot.
“A phrase that I use is ‘cut the source’ and just eliminate anything that could be dangerous,” Kuntz said. “When we walked in (to the locker room) we were like ‘Did they get a shot in the first half?’”
The pace of the second half quickened and opened up more opportunities for both sides. Right away, the Titans earned a corner, and forward Marc Fenelus drove a powerful header that McIntosh fought off.
The breakthrough of the match came in the 67th minute with a give-and-go play between Ramos and midfielder Garrett Losee.
Losee corralled the ball off his chest outside of the box and struck the volley falling down. The ball sailed over the head of McIntosh and crept under the crossbar to give the Titans the lead they worked tirelessly for. Kuntz described the goal as “world class.” It marked Losee’s second goal of the season, tying him for the team lead.
“I was just able to lay the ball off to Ian (Ramos) and then I saw Ian pick his head up and I ran through and just took it off the chest and it was a good combo play,” Losee said. “As soon as I saw the keeper step back, I knew it was going in.”
In the final five minutes of the match, the Broncos ramped up the pressure, but Okirie and the rest of the Titan defense were the first ones to the ball and they cleared it out of harm’s way to preserve the victory.
The Titans made it three wins in a row Sunday against the University of Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks (3-3-1).
With the win, CSUF brought its record to 3-3-1. “The best thing about this team is the attitude’s been tremendous. They’ve never started chewing each other out. They’ve always supported each other,” Kuntz said.
The positivity shone through as Fullerton created numerous shots. Less than a minute after the start, Fenelus put Losee through on goal, but Losee’s low-driven shot from the top of the box went just wide.
Thirty-six minutes later, the Titans turned their chances into a goal when Mark Vasquez passed to Amara Soumah from the left wing. Soumah was inside the six-yard box with his back to the goal, but he turned and shot twice, as the first shot deflected off a defender. He side-footed the rebound into the back of the net to put the Titans ahead.
In the second half, however, CSUF began absorbing more pressure, eventually conceding in the 66th minute when Jake McCain sent a cross from the right side for the Mavericks. Teammate Vance Rookwood leapt higher than Fullerton’s Mitchell Bell and Elias, heading the ball in.
The Titans went ahead in the 71st minute. Soumah did well to cut back from the left side and his pass found Losee, who slid in and made it 2-1.
Ramos joined Soumah and Losee on the scoresheet in the 89th minute. He chipped over a defender down the right flank, putting himself into the box. Without any hesitation, he shot a thunderbolt of a half-volley into the upper corner of the far post, leaving Omaha’s goalkeeper Joseph Ghitis with no chance to even react.
The Titans will look to keep their winning streak alive when they head to Kuntz’s home state of Arizona on Sunday to face Grand Canyon University.