Cal State Fullerton junior Nicole
Mularkey (Long Beach, Calif.) banged home a through ball from a streaking
Kandace Wilson to lift the Titans
to a 4-3, double-overtime, Big West Conference women's soccer victory
over UC Santa Barbara on Sunday afternoon at Titan Stadium.
Cal State Fullerton improves to 12-4-1 overall, 6-2 in the Big West Conference
while UCSB falls to 13-4-2, 6-1-1.
UC Santa Barbara got on the board first with just a 1:03 left in the opening
period as Krystal Sandza juggled the ball around a defender and beat the
Titan goalkeeper to the left post for a 1-0 lead. The unassisted goal
was her league-leading 24th tally of the season.
After the break, the Fullerton offense exploded. Just 11 seconds into
the period Mularkey sent the kickoff to sophomore Kellie
Cox (Lancaster, Calif.), who was streaking down the right side.
Cox settled the ball and dribbled into the box, going around a defender
and beating the goalkeeper far post to knot the score at 1-1.
The Titans took the lead in the lead in the 62nd minute and, again, Cox
was the culprit. After freshman Allison
Bowman (Diamond Bar, Calif.) was taken down just outside of the box
to set up a free kick on the right side.
Cox then sent a shot over the wall into the left side netting for her
second goal of the afternoon.
The Titans made it 3-1 just two minutes later when Mularkey volleyed home
a cross from Bowman and buried it far post past an outstretched keeper.
However, the Big West's top offensive team -- and the top scoring duo
in the league -- wouldn't just sit back and let things be. Jennifer Borcich
scored in the 84th minute when she took a pass from Sandza and Emily Schwimmer
and beat the Titan keeper far post to cut the lead to 3-2.
Three minutes later, Sandza notched her second goal of the game as Erin
Griswold passed the ball out to the top of the box to a waiting Sandza
who buried it to the right side to tie the match.
Both teams played through a scoreless first sudden-victory overtime, despite
the Gauchos holding a 4-1 shots advantage in the period, to send it to
a second overtime where Mularkey clinched the victory.
UCSB held a 21-16 advantage in shots and an 11-9 lead in shots on goal.
The Gauchos also held the advantage in corner kicks, 7-1.
Cal State Fullerton returns to action on Friday (Nov. 8) at 7 p.m. as
the Titans salute their seniors before their regular season finale against
UC Riverside.
