By Cesar Gonzalez
Daily Titan Staff Writer

The Cal State Fullerton men’s soccer team ended the season with a comfortable victory 2-0 against the visiting Highlanders of UC Riverside Saturday night at Titan Stadium.

Redshirt freshman defender Jesse Escalante looks for a teammate as he takes the ball up midfield. By Chad Uemera/Daily Titan Staff Photographer

The Titans struck first in the first half when redshirt freshman midfielder Oscar Aguero scored on a perfect pass from senior midfielder Jamall Farquharson. CSUF sealed the victory with 10 minutes left in the game when sophomore defender Oscar Medina scored his first goal of the season on a pass from senior midfielder Shay Spitz.

“It felt good to score since I haven’t played that much this season,” Medina said.
Medina also added that it was good to get some playing time in the game on Senior Night.

“It’s a great feeling to get the seniors on the team a victory tonight on their last game of the season,” Medina said.

After the first half of the game, both teams had opportunities to score, but the Titans were the only team to convert in the half.

The Titans had an early scoring opportunity in the 14th minute when they had a corner kick and it came off the rebound to Aguero, whose shot went over the crossbar.

Senior midfielder Shay Spitz tries to move the ball up the field against UC Riverside. By Chad Uemera/Daily Titan Staff Photographer

Three minutes later in the 17th minute, sophomore midfielder Michael Denny ended up with the ball and took a shot about 20 yards out against Highlanders redshirt freshman goalkeeper Cody Suppe. The ball hit the right post and came out as Suppe tried to save the shot.

The Highlanders had many chances to score. One was in the 29th minute when they got into Titans territory and sophomore forward Michael Vega passed the ball to freshman midfielder Chris Smith who took the shot but was denied by Titan sophomore goalkeeper Trevor Whiddon.

Their other opportunity was in the 38th minute when they got a direct free kick about 20 yards out but were unable to convert as the shot went wide of the net.

The Titans struck first in the 32nd minute of the match.

A Titans midfielder played a ball to Farquharson who dribbled the ball into the box, crossed the ball and found redshirt midfielder Aguero wide open on the other side. He shot the ball into the left post, giving the Titans the lead in the first half.

This was Aguero’s fourth goal of the season and gave the Titans a lead a few minutes into the match.

In the second half of the game, the Highlanders came out aggressive, putting pressure on the Titans, and they had numerous opportunities to score but were unable to convert.

The closest opportunities the Highlanders had came when senior midfielder Robert Cate timed a cross but was unable to convert. He was able to in a scramble in the box and come out with the ball but was denied by Whiddon.

The Titans had a few opportunities themselves in the second half in the 80th minute when Spitz took a shot inside the 18-yard box, and the ball ricocheted off the crossbar and then off the rebound; a Titan player took a shot, and it went over the crossbar.

The Titans finally were able to convert in the 83rd minute when Spitz gave a pass to Medina who turned and fired a shot to the right post to seal the victory for the team.

Whiddon posted his second shutout of the season and had three saves in the game. “It felt very good to go out with a bang and a victory; (I’m) happy how the team played tonight,” Whiddon said.

Titan Head Coach Bob Ammann said after the game, “It feels very good getting a win for the seniors tonight at Titan Stadium.”

Ammann also added that getting a shutout was good and that they have a young team with a lot of experience. In addition, they’ll have another two more years with them to work hard and try to improve next season.

The Titans ended the season with a record of (8-9-2) overall and (4-5-1) in the Big West Conference.