2-2 Tie At Cal State Fullerton Clinches Big West Tourney Berth For Men's Soccer

Saturday, November 1

Fullerton, CA

7:00 pm

UC Riverside

4-9-4, 3-3-3BW

Cal State Fullerton

8-7-4, 3-4-2BW

Team	1	2	OT 3	OT 4	Final F
UC Riverside	2	0	0	0	2
Cal State Fullerton	1	1	0	0	2

Photo by: Carlos Puma

2-2 Tie At Cal State Fullerton Clinches Big West Tourney Berth For Men's Soccer

11/1/2014 10:05:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Riverside—The UC Riverside Men's Soccer Team clinched a spot in the Big West Conference Tournament Saturday evening with a 2-2 tie at Cal State Fullerton.

The top three teams in each Division make the tourney, and with one match to go, the Highlanders can now finish no lower than third. With CSUN's victory over #14 UC Irvine Saturday, UC Riverside can still finish in first place with a win over the Anteaters, Wednesday, in the regular-season finale for both clubs.

2014 Big West Men's Soccer Standings South Division Through November 1
	W	L	T	Pts
UC Irvine	4	4	1	13
UC Riverside	3	3	3	12
Cal State Fullerton	3	4	2	11
CSUN	3	5	1	10

The Big West Tournament begins Saturday, November 8 with the North and South Division two seeds hosting the three seed from the other division (N2 vs S3 & S2 vs N3). The top seeds in each division receive a bye to the semifinals on Wednesday, November 12, with the South Division champion taking on the winner of N2/S3 and the North Division champ hosting the winner of S2/N3.

The Championship Match is slated for Saturday, November 15.

It didn't take long for the Titans to get on the board, Saturday, as Ian Ramos found Marc Fenelus with less than two minutes gone in the first half to give Fullerton a 1-0 lead.

The Highlanders tied the score in the 22nd minute when Michael Salazar's header off of a Ricardo Ruiz cross made its way past the Titans keeper for his sixth score of the year.

Juan Mendoza put UC Riverside on top with eight minutes to go before the half, slotting an Otis Earle pass short side to make it 2-1.

That score held up into the second half, but with 23:27 remaining, Otis Earle was issued a red card forcing the Highlanders to play a man down. In the 73rd minute, Amara Soumah beat UCR keeper KC John off a corner kick to tie the score.

With 6:55 to go in regulation, Stephen Copley picked up a red card, reducing the number of Highlanders on the pitch to nine. UCR closed ranks, though, and survived the two overtime periods to emerge with the tie.