MEMPHIS, Tenn. -
Cal State-Fullerton's Michael Farfan broke a 2-2 tie with less than
11 minutes left in the match as CSF denied Oral Roberts University
comeback in the first match for both teams in the Memphis-Diadora
Tournament played on Friday night in Memphis, Tenn.
The Golden Eagles
came out of the gates shooting as they outshot the Titans of Cal
State-Fullerton 9-5 but it was CSF who went into the halftime break
with a 1-0 lead. The Titans David Garcia chipped his shot over
ORU's keeper Carlos Veron (Asuncion, Paraguay) to
record his first goal of the year. Teammate Skyler Thureson was
credited with the assist.
ORU did not back
down from there as they played aggresive in the second half sending
16 shots towards CSF's net, with seven of them on goal. Freshman
Juan Chang (Guatemala City, Guatemala) knotted the
score with a goal at the 51:42 mark of the game, taking a pass from
Miguel Peralta (Tulsa, Okla.).
Less than seventeen
minutes later, Cal State-Fullerton gained back the lead with a goal
from Amir Shafii, heading in a corner kick taken from Jacob
Shumway.
Facing a 2-1
disadvantage, ORU's Carlos Pinto (Santa Cruz,
Bolivia) silenced the excitement from the Titan bench with a bullet
that went through CSF's keeper Brent Douglas legs to tie the match
at 2-2. The goal came only 41 seconds after Cal State-Fullerton
regained the lead. Junior transfer Tommy Apitz
(Bixby, Okla.) recorded the assist.
CSF's Farfan
recorded the game winner at the 79:17 mark to give the Titans the
3-2 victory. Marco Rodriguez and Skyler Thureson teamed together
for the assist.
Veron had three
saves on the night and CSF's keeper Douglas stopped eight of ORU's
scoring chances.
With the win Cal
State-Fullerton improved to 2-0-0 while ORU dropped to 0-2-1.
Oral Roberts will
now face #6/#5 Clemson (Soccer America/NSCAA rankings) on Sunday at
5 p.m. in the Memphis-Diadora Tournament.
-ORU-
