Cal State Fullerton Boots No. 1 UCLA

Cal State Fullerton has beaten teams ranked No. 1 in men’s soccer before, but not in a game that mattered this much.

And not in the NCAA playoffs. And not against UCLA, whose 20 victories in 23 previous matches between the teams had made the Southern California neighborhood rivalry seem like a mismatch at times.

Fullerton took control from the start this time, and went on to a 2-1 first-round victory over the top-ranked Bruins Sunday in front of 2,551 at Titan Stadium, ending UCLA’s 11-game winning streak.

UCLA had beaten the Titans, 2-0, during the regular season. The Bruins also had won the only other NCAA tournament match between the schools in the first round in 1986, 3-0. UCLA also won, 4-0, last year during the regular season.

“I’m delighted,” Titan Coach Al Mistri said. “It’s about time for us to win a game of this magnitude.”

Fullerton (11-4-5) was ranked 18th nationally and is in the playoffs for the third time in the last four years.

The Titans, one of 16 teams remaining in contention for the national title, will meet Creighton, a 2-0 winner against Southern Methodist, next weekend.

The site and time for that game won’t be determined until Monday, although Fullerton is expected to be the host next Sunday afternoon.

Sunday’s game was tied 1-1 before Fullerton’s Tom Helmer took a crossfield pass from Alessio Smith and connected on a left-footed kick off the right post in the 62nd minute.

Fullerton had dominated the first half and led, 1-0, after forward Charlie Lynch slipped behind the Bruin defense and looped a shot over the pushed-out Bruin goalkeeper, Kevin Hartman, in the 18th minute.

UCLA’s only goal came in the second half, in the 58th minute, when Seth George, who played at Santa Margarita High, drilled a shot over Titan goalie Mike Forensich’s head into the right corner of the net.

Fullerton had 12 shots on goal to only seven for the Bruins.

“Fullerton played very well,” UCLA Coach Sigi Schmid said. “They took advantage of our mistake when we were caught pushing out on the first goal, and Helmer hit a great shot on the second goal. We thought we had equalized it with our goal, but their second goal took us out of it.”

The Bruin defense focused on Fullerton’s top goal-scorer, Sheldon Thomas.

He managed four shots but none was a good scoring opportunity.

“We bottled up Thomas,” Schmid said. “We wanted to make sure their other people would have to beat us, and they did. They played with good team discipline. That’s one of the things we’ve been able to get them on in the past.”

Titan midfielder Joe DiGiamarino, a member of the U.S. national under-20 team and the team’s leader on the field, said UCLA’s No. 1 ranking probably helped the Titans.

“We got pumped up for them this time,” DiGiamarino said.

Thomas said the Titans also were disappointed they didn’t do better in the previous meeting.

“We thought they were lucky the last time,” Thomas said.

“This time the luck was on our side, and it was pay-back time.”