Titans Fight Back in 3-1 Overtime Victory : Soccer: San Diego ties score with 28 seconds left, but Fullerton keeps composure to advance to second round of NCAA playoffs.

Cal State Fullerton, which made it to the final four of college soccer last season, opened a new round of NCAA tournament play Saturday night with a dramatic 3-1 overtime victory over San Diego.

Eddie Soto and Matt Bradbury led the way.

Soto connected on an open-net goal 9 minutes into the first overtime period when San Diego goalkeeper Tom Tate came out too far and lost control of the ball. Soto nudged it away and connected from the side.

Then Soto, a senior from Cerritos, scored two minutes into the second overtime on Matt Bradbury’s breakaway assist. It was Soto’s 19th goal of the season and set a school career record for points with 96.

The victory advances Fullerton (13-6-2) to next weekend’s second round against the winner of today’s match between Fresno State and San Francisco in Fresno. The site and date of the next game will be determined Monday.

The crowd of 2,787 at Titan Stadium on a chilly, 50-degree night was the largest ever for a Fullerton home soccer game.

The Titans appeared to be on their way to a 1-0 victory before San Diego striker Guillermo Jara took a pass low in the box and scored with only 28 seconds remaining in regulation. Doug Barry, a former player at El Toro High, assisted on the goal. It was the seventh consecutive game in which Jara has scored at least once.

“I thought we had the game won and then they scored that goal,” Titan Coach Al Mistri said. “We did well to come back. Our guys did a tremendous job to come back the way they did. Matt and Eddie really maintained their composure when we needed it.”

San Diego Coach Seamus McFadden felt the Titans controlled the first half, and his team had the upper hand in the second half. “They seemed to be down at the start of the overtime, but they bounced back. You have to be good and you have to be lucky in this game, and they were good and they were lucky,” McFadden said.

Bradbury gave the Titans a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute of regulation on a driving goal set up by Soto’s assist from the side. It was the eighth goal of the season for Bradbury, who had three in the regular-season finale, a 4-3 victory over Loyola Marymount.

Junior Justin Johnston, who took over as the regular Titan goalkeeper this past week when Mike Kornock was suspended indefinitely for missing practice, had a solid performance. “I thought he made two very big saves,” Mistri said.

The loss dropped San Diego to 13-6 for the season and ended its seven-game winning streak. Fullerton eliminated San Diego, 3-2, in NCAA second-round play last year in San Diego.