Titan Soccer Team Opens Tournament Against Washington

Cal State Fullerton (12-5) will play Washington (12-2-3) at 7 tonight in a Mountain Pacific Soccer Federation tournament match in Seattle’s Husky Stadium.

The top four teams in the 16-team MPSF, two from the Mountain Division and two from the Pacific Division, advanced to the tournament, which opens at 5 p.m. with a UCLA-Stanford match.

The winners of tonight’s matches will meet at 1 p.m. Sunday, with the tournament champion earning an automatic berth to the NCAA soccer tournament. However, Titan Coach Al Mistri believes a victory tonight will ensure at least an at-large bid to the 28-team NCAA playoffs.

Fullerton, ranked 19th nationally by Soccer America, won’t be at full strength for the tournament. Forward Eddie Soto, the team’s leading scorer with 12 goals and eight assists, suffered a sprained ankle in Sunday’s loss to UCLA.

Forward Ricky Rodriguez (two goals, seven assists) has been slowed by a knee injury and forward Marc Roosen (two goals, two assists) missed Sunday’s game because of a bruised knee. All three are expected to play, however.

Washington, which has a four-match winning streak and is ranked 10th nationally, is led by Erik Penner, who has 13 goals and four assists this season.