The George Kuntz era at Cal State Fullerton began on a sour note as the CSUF men’s soccer team dropped their season opener 3-2 after an overtime goal from University of Illinois-Chicago’s (UIC) Thomas Villamil.
Despite the disappointing result, the Titans were able to fight back from a 2-0 second-half deficit to force overtime. After an impressive show of will and determination from the Titans to scratch and claw back into the game, UIC used aggressive play to fire two shots in overtime to immediately throw Fullerton off their game.
After a scoreless first half, the Flames got on the board in the 53rd minute when senior Jesus Torres tallied the opening goal of the game on a strike past Titan goalkeeper Jeff Salt.
The Flames kept up the offensive surge with another goal in the 65th minute courtesy of freshman Sergio Fuentes, who scored off an assist from Torres. After the Titans fell behind 2-0, they rallied together in a hostile road environment.
Despite several missed scoring opportunities throughout the game, the Titans got lucky in the 69th minute as UIC knocked in an own goal to close the deficit to 2-1.
With the final minutes of the match winding down, the Titans forced a corner kick in the 88th minute for one last opportunity to find the equalizer. Senior forward Marc Fenelus took the corner for the Titans, which found Alex Heilmann. Heilmann set up Amara Soumah who headed in the goal to tie the game at two apiece to seemingly stun the hometown Flames.
While the Titans had seemingly taken control on the road, Villamil and his UIC teammates put an end to their momentum and took down the Titans in extra time.
CSUF returned to Southern California on Monday, when they visited the Toreros of San Diego. The match featured two staunch defenses grinding out a 0-0 tie after two overtime periods.
After struggling on defense in their season opener against the Flames, Fullerton seemed to have a new mindset on Monday night. Salt was the hero for the Titans on this night, coming through with eight saves to keep the shutout.
As strong as the defense was for the Titans, their offensive struggles put more pressure on the backline. For the night, Fullerton was only able to manage eight shots, rarely stretching out the Torero defense or pressuring them with a scoring chance.
Things got testy late in the game, when senior midfielder Mark Vasquez attempted a slide-tackle with his cleats up resulting in a red card and his removal from the game in the 70th minute.
Although the Titans were forced to play a man down for the remainder of the game, they fought tough and earned a gritty draw.
The Titans will play their home opener this Friday when the University of San Francisco Dons visit Titan Stadium. The Dons (1-1-0) should present a tough matchup for the Titans, as they defeated No. 21 Wisconsin in their season opener before falling to UIC.
