California State University Northridge Athletics
California State University at Northridge
Cal State Fullerton
CSUN and Cal State Fullerton Meet in Big West Tournament Final
11/11/2016 1:49:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Matadors host Titans for Big West Championship and NCAA Berth
Game Notes in PDF Format
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. --- The CSUN Matadors (8-6-5) face the Cal State Fullerton Titans in the Big West Tournament Championship match Saturday, Nov. 12 at Matador Soccer Field at 5 p.m. The winner of the match will claim the Big West Tournament title and claim the Big West Conference's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. The match will feature live stats, live video and live audio with Eduard Cauich and Jose Avalos calling all the action on the CSUN Sports Network. Multimedia links are available at GoMatadors.com and fans are also encouraged to the check with the CSUN athletic department's official Twitter accounts (@GoMatadors, @CSUNCapeCrew and @CSUNMensSoccer) for updates throughout the weekend.
On Wednesday, Nov. 9, the Matadors advanced via the penalty kick shootout in a 0-0 draw with Sacramento State in a Big West Conference Tournament Semifinal. After 110 minutes of scoreless soccer that saw both teams exchange near-misses, the teams went to penalty kicks to decide the match. Both teams made their first five attempts and on Sacramento State's sixth attempt, CSUN senior Kevin Marquez made a diving stop to his right to set up Patrick Hickman's game-winning penalty kick. The shutout was the fourth of Marquez's season and he had three saves in the draw. Papi Diouf and Emmanuel Usen Jr. each had six shots for the Matadors.
Saturday marks the first time CSUN has hosted the Big West Tournament Championship. The Matadors won the 2012 Tournament and finished as runners-up in 2013 but both those contests were on the road. The Matadors and Titans are very familiar with each other and played to a pair of 1-1 draws earlier this season during Big West South Division play. Cal State Fullerton has won the past two Big West Tournament titles although CSUN leads the all-time series with the Titans.
A Closer Look at Cal State Fullerton
The Cal State Fullerton Titans come to the San Fernando Valley Saturday evening for the Big West Tournament Championship match. The Titans scored a 2-1 victory at UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday night behind goals from Rei Dorwart and Ross McPhie. The Titans carried a 12-8 advantage in shots and had nine corner kicks in the victory.
Alex Heilmann leads the Titans with 11 goals and 24 points on the season. He earned First Team All-Big West honors and is tied for the lead in the Big West in goals and points. McPhie now has three goals on the season and four other Titans have two goals on the season. Cal State Fullerton averages 13.3 shots and 6.3 corner kicks per contest.
Defensively, David Elias has played the majority of minutes this year for Cal State Fullerton and played the full 90 minutes Wednesday. He sports a 0.99 goals-against average, 34 saves and a .723 save percentage in nearly 1,180 minutes of work. Opponents have totaled 26 goals on the season and the Titans have been cautioned 41 times with two red cards.
The two teams played to a pair of 1-1 draws in the regular season. In Northridge, Bar Shem Tov scored the game-tying goal and in Orange County, Samuel Dadzie and Gabe Robinson combined on a long throw-in to force a Titan own goal. CSUN carries a 22-17-5 record in the all-time series and captured a 2-1 victory at home in the 2015 season. George Kuntz is in his third season as the head coach of the Titans and has led them to the past two Big West Tournament Championships.Â
Juan Fernando Samayoa -- First Team All-Big West
- Senior Juan Fernando Samayoa leads the Matadors with six goals, six assists and 18 points on the season
- Samayoa earned First Team All-Big West honors in 2016 after receiving Second Team honors in 2014
- Five of Samayoa's goals in 2016 have come from the penalty spot and he had two vs. UC Davis on Sept. 29Â
- Samayoa has also scored PKs against San Diego, CSU Bakersfield and UC IrvineÂ
- Samayoa had a goal and two assists in the Matadors' home win over UC Irvine on Oct. 22
- Samayoa now has seven goals and 12 assists and 26 points in his three-plus years of service with the Matadors
- He posted an assist on Diouf's goal vs. Tulsa and also had helpers vs. CSU Bakersfield, Cal Poly and Cal State Fullerton
Kevin Marquez -- 2016 Big West Goalkeeper of the Year
- Senior Kevin Marquez was named Big West Goalkeeper of the Year and has played every minute this season
- Marquez made his first career start and recorded six saves for his first career win in 2-1 victory over Tulsa
- Has at least four saves in all but four matches in 2016, including a career-high nine stops vs. Cal State Fullerton on Oct. 12Â
- Marquez had seven stops against Air Force and at Cal Poly; he also has five games with six saves this season
- Marquez earned his first career shutout with four saves in a 1-0 victory over Sacramento State on Oct. 1
- Marquez ranks second in the Big West Conference with a .800 save percentage and 92 saves
- Junior Papi Diouf scored at eight seconds of the first half in the win vs. Tulsa on Friday, Aug. 26 and was named Big West Conference Offensive Player of the Week on Monday, Aug. 29
- The goal at :08 is the second-fastest in NCAA Division I history and is a Big West Conference record
- The goal at :08 is tied for the eighth-fastest in NCAA history across all three divisions
- Sophomore Nicholas Grinde scored the game-winning goal in the Matadors' win over Tulsa
- Grinde added his second goal of the season in the 71st minute vs. Air Force and picked up an assist on Richard Martinez's game-winning goal in double-overtime
- Grinde's third goal of the year came in a 4-1 victory at CSU Bakersfield and he is second on the team with seven points
- Grinde has 16 shots on the season and is third on the team lead with eight on frame
Patrick Hickman -- 2016 Big West Defensive Player of the Year
- Senior defender Patrick Hickman became the second-straight Matador to earn Big West Defensive Player of the Year
- Hickman also received First Team All-Big West honors for his 2016 season
- He scored the game-winning goal in CSUN's 1-0 victory over Sacramento State
- Hickman added his second goal of the year in a 1-1 draw at Cal Poly
- Hickman scored his career-high third goal of the year in the Matadors' home win over UC Irvine
- Hickman has earned consecutive Honorable Mention All-Big West Honors (2014, 2015)
- Freshman forward Bar Shem Tov has three goals on the season, tying for second on the team
- Shem Tov scored the game-tying goal in the Matadors' 1-1 draw with Cal State Fullerton on Oct. 12Â
- Shem Tov added his third goal of the year in the fifth minute in a 4-3 loss at UC Irvine on Oct. 15
- Shem Tov scored the first goal of his CSUN career in a 4-1 victory at CSU Bakersfield on Sept. 25Â
Emmanuel Usen Jr. -- Honorable Mention All-Big West
- Junior Emmanuel Usen Jr. earned Honorable Mention All-Big West honors in his first season at CSUN
- Usen Jr. recorded an assist on Diouf's goal in the Matadors' win over Tulsa
- Usen Jr. picked up his second assist of the season on Grinde's goal vs. Air Force
- Usen Jr. recorded his third assist at CSU Bakersfield and he picked up his fourth assist in the home win over UCI
- Usen Jr. has 21 shots on the season with eight on frame, but is still looking for his first goal as a Matador
Team Notes
- Freshman Edwin Quiroz scored the first goal of his Matador career in a 2-1 loss at UCSB on Oct. 8
- Quiroz earned a spot on the 2016 Big West All-Freshman TeamÂ
- Sophomore Dre Deas scored the first goal of his Matador career in a 4-3 loss at UC Irvine on Oct. 15
- Quiroz had the assist on Deas' goal vs. UCI and he has started all 14 games this season
- Senior Gabe Robinson has a goal and two assists on the season, giving him two goals and six assists in his career
- Freshman Samuel Dadzie scored the game-winning goal in CSUN 's 1-0 overtime victory vs. UC Riverside on Oct. 29
- Senior Richard Martinez scored the first goal of his CSUN career in dramatic fashion, lifting CSUN to a 2-1 double-overtime victory against Air Force on Sept. 4
- Junior Jeremy Degraffenreidt scored in the 76th minute to lift CSUN to a 1-0 victory at UC Riverside on Oct. 19
- The goal was Degraffenreidt's first of the season and second of his CSUN career
- Sophomore Stuart Close recorded the assist on Degraffenreidt's goal and both of his career assists have come in CSUN victories at UCRÂ
- Sophomore Jumoke Hutton is third on the team with two assists on the season and has three for his career
