It went down to a tiebreaker in the standings, but when the dust settled
the Cal State Fullerton women’s soccer team emerged as champions
of the inaugural 2002 SOCCER TOWN Classic, defeating Eastern Washington,
3-1, on Monday afternoon at Titan Stadium.
The Titans improve to 1-0 overall on the season while the Eagles fell
to 0-2 overall.
Fullerton and UC Irvine were tied atop the tournament standings with one
victory apiece, but the title clincher came by virtue of goals scored,
in which the Titans outscored the Anteaters, 3-2. UCI defeated Eastern
Washington, 2-0, on Saturday night.
Fullerton struck first on senior Kim
Houg’s goal in the eighth minute of the match, as she took a
long ball from Titan freshman goalkeeper Karen
Bardsley (Chino Hills, Calif.) that was misplayed by the Eastern Washington
defense.
Houg then chipped it over the hard-charging goalkeeper and punted it into
the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.
The score remained that way until the first minute of the second half
as EWU’s Traci Jellison notched her first goal of the season, beating
the goalkeeper one-on-one and firing near post to tie the score.
A pair of freshmen then lifted the Titans into the lead for good as Ashley
O’Brien (Huntington Beach, Calif.) made it 2-1 in the 54th minute,
taking a short cross from the far side by Jenny
Mescher and finding the back of the net.
Freshman Kandace Wilson
(Walnut, Calif.) then tallied the tournament-clinching goal in the 58th
minute, taking a cross from Mescher and Erica
Jacalone, and finished things off to the far post for the final 3-1
advantage.
Cal State Fullerton held a 13-1 advantage in shots in the opening period
and a 24-6 lead in the category overall. The Titans also had an 11-4 lead
in shots on goal.
The Titans are back in action this weekend, traveling south to UC Irvine
to compete as one of four teams in the Nike/UC Irvine Tournament. Fullerton
will take on nationally-ranked Saint Mary’s on Friday (Sept. 6) at
5:30 p.m. before facing Montana on Sunday (Sept. 8) at 11 a.m.
TEAM TOURNAMENT CHAMPION: Cal State Fullerton TEAM TOURNAMENT RUNNER-UP: UC Irvine MOST OUTSTANDING OFFENSIVE PLAYER: Jenny Mescher (CSF) MOST OUTSTANDING DEFENSIVE PLAYER: Caroline Kabe (UCI)
