Cal State Fullerton sophomore Erica Pryor headed home the game-winning
goal in the 76th minute off passes from Erica Janke and Allison Bowman,
lifting the Titans to a 1-0 Big West Conference women’s soccer victory
over Pacific on Friday night at Titan Stadium in front of 420 fans.
Fullerton earned its first conference victory of the year in improving
to 7-5-2 overall and 1-2-1 in the Big West. The Titans are unbeaten in
their last three matches after double overtime ties to Santa Clara and
Cal Poly last weekend and remain unbeaten at home this season with a 5-0-1
mark. Pacific fell to 3-9-2 overall and 2-2-1 in the league.
Pryor’s goal finished off a pretty sequence of passes from her teammates
for the lone goal of the match. Bowman’s corner kick was headed
back out by a Titan player, finding the feet of Erica Janke, who crossed
the ball back in to the box. The pass found the head of Pryor, who headed
it into the ground towards the lower right post and past the Tigers’
goalkeeper for the score.
A rough and tumble first half saw the Tigers garner most of the early
scoring chances, outshooting the Titans 4-1 in the opening period of play.
Pacific’s best chance came in only the third minute of the match
when a corner kick by Sadye Reish was mistakenly punched into the net
by Titan goalkeeper Laura Janke. However, Fullerton was saved when the
referee waved off the goal, calling a foul in the box on the play, keeping
the match scoreless.
Reish later had two more scoring opportunities, breaking past the defensive
backline of the Titans, but pushing one shot wide right and the other
saved by Janke at the right post in the 14th minute.
The Titans had a goal disallowed in the 23rd minute when freshman Lauryn
Welch’s corner kick apparently sailed out of bounds before Pryor
squeezed a header past goalkeeper the Tigers’ Laura Guerin and a
defender on the line. Freshman Kate Brunet had a nifty scoring opportunity
with just under two minutes remaining in the opening period on a cross
by Bowman which was deflected by Erin Shelton to Brunet’s head in
the box, but the shot went over the crossbar, keeping the match scoreless
at the break.
Cal State Fullerton outshot Pacific, 9-6, including an 8-2 margin in the
second half. The Titans had four corners to the Tigers’ one while
Janke and Guerin each finished with two saves on the night. Janke posted
her fifth shutout of the season and her first since Sept. 28 (vs. Oregon).
Cal State Fullerton returns to action on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 19) at
1 p.m. as the Titans play host to the Cal State Northridge Matadors in
a Big West match-up at Titan Stadium.
