Surprise Return Sparks Fullerton

Four weeks ago, Kris Hulgreen’s Cal State Fullerton soccer career appeared to be over because of a fractured cheekbone.

But he wouldn’t give up on the idea of playing again during his senior season.

Hulgreen not only played Friday in the semifinals of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament, he also scored two goals in Fullerton’s 3-1 victory over University of Denver in Titan Stadium.

The victory advanced Fullerton (15-4-1) into the championship game at 1 p.m. Sunday against San Jose State (19-0-1), ranked No. 1 in the nation. The winner earns the conference’s automatic berth in the NCAA playoffs.

“We had ruled [Hulgreen] out for the season,” Titan Coach Al Mistri said. “But then he got clearance from the doctor to go ahead and play again.” It was Hulgreen’s first appearance since he was injured Oct. 15 in a game against UC Santa Barbara. A midfielder from Mater Dei, Hulgreen had scored only one goal in 14 games this season and only two goals in his previous three seasons with the Titans.

“The goals he scored were great,” Mistri said. “But the contributions he makes on defense as a midfielder are even more important.” Fullerton, ranked 17th, fell behind, 1-0, at halftime, but Hulgreen scored the first of his two goals on a rebound from six yards out in the 50th minute to tie the score.

Forward Duncan Oughton, the Titans’ scoring leader, found the back of the net for his 16th goal of the season in the 67th minute on a 25-yard blast after Denver goalkeeper Parker Jarvis was forced out of goal to stop a drive by Shaun Higgins.

“Duncan read the play well and then executed the shot well,” Mistri said.

Hulgreen provided the final goal about a minute later.

Goalkeeper Sean Rockwell played for the first time Friday since suffering a badly bruised foot in Fullerton’s overtime victory over UCLA on Oct. 26, but he was replaced by Josh Saunders late in the game.