FULLERTON, Calif. --- UC Irvine fought back from an early hole, but couldn't overcome Cal State Fullerton falling 3-1 Wednesday night at Titan Stadium.
The Titans (7-8-3, 3-3-1) got ahead early with its first shot of the game as Robert Coronado lofted a set piece in, and Alex Heilmann got on the other end of it heading cross off of Elliot Farmer and in to make it 1-0 in the ninth minute.
The rest of the half played out with each side trading blows, but neither broke as Cal State Fullerton carried its one-goal lead into the half.
They almost got a big second goal earning a penalty kick in the 47th minute, but Ronaldo Pineda's try sailed high and kept the Anteaters in the match.
CSF would eventually get that second goal in the 53rd minute. Ross McPhie's cross found Corentin Ohlmann in the middle of the box to bury his first goal of the season and make it 2-0, CSF.
UCI (4-12, 2-5) broke out of its funk two minutes later as Randall McDermott laced a hard cross from the touchline that Thomas Janjigian pounced on leaping and heading a shot into the upper left to reel the Titans back in and make it 2-1 in the 55th minute.
Tempers began to flare with some hard fouls and a yellow card to each side over the next few minutes, and action picked up end-to-end as Farmer was tested needing to stop five shots in the second half.
CSF held off the 'Eaters, and supplied an insurance strike in the 83rd minute to put the match away and gain the 3-1 victory.
The win puts a big hit on UC Irvine's tournament chances dropping them four points beneath the Titans for the final tournament spot coupled with a CSUN win over UC Riverside putting all three squads at least four points clear for the 'Eaters.
UCI completes its 2016 road ledger on Saturday, Oct. 22 with a 7:00 p.m. match at CSUN that has turned into a must situation for the 'Eaters needing to get points to stay in contention.
Farmer did as much as he could stopping six shots on the evening. His counterpart, David Elias, needed to make just one save.
Janjigian's goal is his third of the season, and now makes him the team's leading scorer with 10 points on the year. McDermott provided the assist, the first of his career.
