After one weekend of Big West women's soccer play, Cal State Fullerton and Pacific are the only remaining teams with an opportunity to run the table and go undefeated. The Titans and Tigers won their conference openers last week. Fullerton treks to the Central Coast this week, while Pacific hosts a pair of opponents.
NOTEWORTHY
Farryn Townley, Cal State Northridge
Townley has accounted for 40 percent of Cal State Northridge’s scoring this season, posting six of the team’s 15 goals. The junior forward scored a goal against both Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara last week. Townley has scored a goal in three of the last four matches. Her strike in the 70th minute against the Mustangs ended up being her third game-winning goal of the season. She is tied for second in the Big West in game-winning goals.
MORE NOTABLES
Four Of Top Five Wins Leaders Current Coaches
Longevity and success have permitted current Big West women’s soccer coaches to occupy four of the top five spots on the all-time victories list. Cal Poly head coach Alex Crozier leads the group with 155 victories. Pacific’s Keith Coleman is second overall with 133 wins and UC Santa Barbara’s Paul Stumpf is third on the list with 103. Veronica O’Brien, with 81 victories at UC Riverside, sits in fifth. The Big West began sponsoring women’s soccer in 1996. The four coaches have a combined 44 years of head coaching experience in the Big West.
COACHING VICTORY LEADERS
(as member of the Big West)
155 Alex Crozier, Cal Poly
133 Keith Coleman, Pacific
103 Paul Stumpf, UC Santa Barbara
92 Marine Cano, UC Irvine
81 Veronica O’Brien, UC Riverside
bold denotes active Big West head coach
Pacific Overcomes Long Beach State In Opener
Pacific chalked up a key victory to open the Big West season last Thursday as a first half goal by Maricela Padilla stood up in a 1-0 triumph at Long Beach State. The Tigers stymied the three-time defending Big West regular season champions, denying them an opportunity to win a conference opener for the fifth straight year. Pacific also erased some tough memories of previous Big West openers, in which they lost three straight to the 49ers - 2005, 2006 and 2007.
Triad Of Goalkeepers Participate In Northridge Win
It’s rare when two goalkeepers from the same team participate in one game, but even rarer when there’s three. That’s exactly what happened though in Friday’s matchup between Cal State Northridge and Cal Poly. Matador starting netminder Kellie Drenner left the match midway through the first half due to injury, and was replaced by backup Leah Elliott. However, Elliott also departed the contest due to injury in the second half. That forced CSUN head coach Keith West to turn to redshirt freshman defender Katie Russ as the team’s emergency goalie. Russ, who played the final 28 minutes of the match, allowed one goal but also earned the win as CSUN outlasted the Mustangs 3-2.
Tigers, Titans Share Early Lead In Big West
Cal State Fullerton and Pacific are the only undefeated teams after one weekend of conference play. Pacific defeated Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton downed UC Riverside to start out the league slate 1-0. Five teams split the opening week of play to sit at 1-1, while UC Davis and UC Riverside are 0-1.
Big West’s Non-Conference Record
A glance at the Big West’s record in non-conference games reveals a mark of 42-38-11 (.522).
UC Santa Barbara Scores Season-High In Goals
UC Santa Barbara has had struggles mounting an effective offensive attack in 2009, and that was no more evident on Friday when UC Irvine dealt the Gauchos a 3-0 setback. UCSB had just two shots on goal in the contest. However, UCSB rebounded with a season-high three goals in a 3-2 triumph at Cal State Northridge on Sunday. Kailyn Kugler, Erica Seidman and Katy Roby all found the back of the net for the Gauchos in the victory. The three goals accounted for exactly one-quarter of the team’s total output this season - 12 goals.
Shutout City
UC Riverside has been involved in a shutout in 10 of its 12 games this season. The Highlanders fell 1-0 to Cal State Fullerton in the Big West opener for both teams on Sunday. UCR is usually on the positive side in those shutout situations, posting a 5-3-2 record.
Titans Righting The Ship
After starting the season 0-4 and sinking like the Titanic, Cal State Fullerton has turned things around. The Titans are 3-1-3 in their last seven games with the only setback coming against No. 9 Santa Clara. CSF is playing much better defensively, allowing only three goals in their seven matches. The team allowed 10 goals in the season-opening four-match losing streak.
VanBuskirk First To Double-Digit Goals
UC Davis senior Rochelle VanBuskirk continued her scoring assault last weekend as the forward scored a goal against Saint Mary’s and Long Beach State. The goals were her 10th and 11th of the year. She leads the Big West with her 11 goals and is the first player in the conference to hit the double-digit mark this season. Additionally, VanBuskirk is tied for second in the nation in goals per game (1.1).
Goal Jamboree
UC Irvine’s trip to Northern California schools UC Davis and Pacific for Big West action this week could be a demonstraton of high scoring affairs. The Anteaters lead the Big West with 27 goals, while the Aggies are second with 24 and the Tigers third with 23. In fact, a player from one of those three schools occupies eight of the top 10 spots on the Big West leaderboard in points scored. Three UCI players - Dana Sanderlin, Devon Delarosa and Mar Rodriguez - are on that top 10 list as freshmen.
Big West Live Comes To Twitter
The Big West Conference is excited to bring Big West Live to Twitter, a Twitter feed designed to give fans an in-the-stands view of select Big West Events. Bringing near-instantaneous photos, commentary, and updates, Big West Live is the first feed of its kind. Moving beyond the scores and stats, Big West Live delivers the “color” of Big West events.
Follow Your Team On BigWest.TV
The Big West Conference and the CBS College Sports Network are partnering to bring you exclusive coverage of Big West sports, press conferences, interviews, and features to your home via the Internet! Now in its fifth year, BigWest.TV covers every home and conference contest in men’s basketball as well as women’s basketball and volleyball. Also covered are select contests in men’s and women’s soccer, baseball, softball, and Big West Conference Championships. A monthly subscription of $9.95 or an annual subscription of $79.95 delivers exclusive coverage to you. If you can’t make it to the gym or the field, you can still catch all the action on BigWest.TV!