CSUDH Men's Soccer Weekly Release
October 31, 2001

THIS WEEK IN TOROS SOCCER
Nov. 2 #5 CSUDH vs. Sonoma State UC San Diego, 2 pm
Nov. 4 CCAA Championship Game UC San Diego, 2:30 pm

LOOKING AHEAD: The 2001 CCAA Central Division Champion Toros will travel to UC San Diego this week to participate in the CCAA Championship Tournament. CSUDH as the #1 seed will take on #4 seed Sonoma State on Friday beginning at 2:00 p.m. If the Toros advance, they will take on the winner of the Grand Canyon/UC Davis match-up on Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

LOOKING BACK... TOROS DROP FIRST CCAA GAME IN NEARLY TWO YEARS: CSUDH's 29-game conference unbeaten streak came to an end with a 1-0 loss to Cal State Bakersfield last Wednesday night. The 'Runners struck early in the 2nd minute to account for all the scoring in the game. CSUDH came out flat in the first period and stayed flat until the final 10 minutes of the first half. In the second period, the Toros poured it on and dominated throughout outshooting CSUB 14-5. However, the team couldn't finish their chances resulting in their first loss to Cal State Bakersfield since the 1997 season. In the game, the Toros finished with a 20-12 shot advantage. Goalie Luis Morales (Banning HS) suffered only his second career loss in a CSUDH uniform making four saves in goal.

TOROS MAKE GOLDEN EAGLES SORE IN 10-2 VICTORY: The No. 3 Toros bounced back from their first league loss with a 10-2 drubbing of division rival Cal State LA. Scott White (Sonora HS) led the squad with three goals and seven points as the Toros beat Cal State LA 10-2 in California Collegiate Athletic Association action at Toro Field. The scoring started in the 16th minute when junior forward Scott White scored the first of his three goals. White took a cross inside the box at 16:32 from senior midfielder Sean Lockhart (Palm Springs HS) and hammered his shot to the back of the net for a 1-0 lead. White tallied his second goal at 32:52 when he and junior Isidro Torres (Millikan HS) connected on a give-and-go from 15-yards away making it 2-0. Then at 36:07, Cal State LA's Juan Mendoza was ejected after pulling down forward Gabriel Valencia (Salesian HS) inside the penalty box. Lockhart converted the penalty kick giving the Toros a 3-0 lead. Senior CSUDH defender Nathan Ballard (Sonora HS) made it 4-0 when he blasted a 25-yard shot from the left flank, freezing the Golden Eagle goalie Luis Mendoza at 43:42. Cal State LA got on the board with just :02 seconds remaining in the first half off a free kick making it 4-1. Freshman Rick Cobb (Warren HS) started the scoring in the second half for the Toros. At 58:57, Cobb received a cross inside the penalty box from Chris Wimmer (Fountain Valley HS) and slipped his shot under the diving Golden Eagle keeper. Four minutes later, Valencia scored on a breakaway. His initial shot from close range was deflected by the goalie. Valencia took the rebound and sent his shot to the back of the net for the score at 62:24 giving the Toros a 6-1 lead. Lockhart made it 7-1 with his second goal of the game. He took a nice cross from the left flank and first-timed a drive past the goalie to the far post at 77:18. Cal State LA made it 7-2 at 78:43 but that would be as close as they would get. Cal State Dominguez Hills would score three more times in just over a one minute span. At 79:58, Victor Guerrero (Century HS) took a pass from White at the top of the box and sent his shot to the near post past a drawn out CSLA keeper. Then at 80:23, Eddie Gonzales-Pinto (N. Torrance HS) took a pass from Guerrero and beat the goalie one-on-one from 10-yards out making it 9-2. CSUDH would cap the scoring at 81:17 when Cobb flicked a ball to White who registered the "hat trick" with a chip shot over the drawn out goalkeeper. Luis Morales made three saves in the game to earn the win for the Toros. Cal State Dominguez Hills outshot CSLA 26-7 in the game. For CSUDH it is the most goals scored since the 1983 season when they shutout Cal State Bakersfield 12-0.

SERIES NOTES: The Toros and Sonoma State locked up earlier this year in Rohnert Park with CSUDH taking a 2-0 result. In that game, senior All-America defender Joe Cartlidge (Redondo Union HS) registered the game-winner in the 26th minute. Last year, the Toros and Cossacks met in the CCAA Championship game with CSUDH winning their second consecutive league title with a 3-1 victory over Sonoma State. Friday's contest will mark the 9th all-time meeting with the Toros holding a 6-2 series advantage and have won the last three straight.

WHITE NAMED CCAA PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Forward Scott White (Sonora HS) has been named Kappa CCAA Men's Soccer Player of the Week as announced by the conference office for the week of Oct. 22-28. White, a 5-7 junior, powered the Toros to a 10-2 win over Cal State LA with a hat trick (3 goals) and an assist for a total of seven points in the regular season finale. White scored the first two goals of the game then closed out the scoring for CSUDH on a nice chip shot over the goalie.

LEADING THE STAMPEDE: CSUDH has six players scoring in double figures. Sean Lockhart leads the squad with 37 points on a team-high 14 goals and 9 assists. Gabriel Valencia ranks second with 23 points (10g, 3a). Sophomore Eddie Gonzales-Pinto has tallied 17 points (7g, 3a). Rick Cobb (Warren HS) has scored 16 points in his freshman campaign while Scott White and Victor Guerrero round out the top scorers with 15 and 14 points. Goalie Luis Morales has recorded a 1.00 goals against average in the net.

TOROS STILL ON TOP: CSUDH has spent the entire season on top of the Far West Region ranking's and will more than likely host the first round of the NCAA playoffs slated for Nov. 10 or 11. The 16-team NCAA II bracket will be announced on Monday (Nov. 5). Going into the final week of play, CCAA South Division champ Grand Canyon and Seattle Pacific University are tied for the No. 2 spot in the region.

CORNER KICKS: With the exception of freshman midfielder Brian Suarez (Mary State of the Sea HS) and goalie Luis Morales, every player on the 2001 roster has scored at least one point...with Gabriel Valencia's goal against CSLA on Saturday, it gave the Toros two players (Lockhart/Valencia) with 10+ goals on the season for the second consecutive year...the last time CSUDH had two players with 10+ goals each prior to last year was in 1997 in Alex Rodriguez (11) and Ovidio Martinez (10).

TOROS EYEING CCAA TOURNAMENT: CSUDH will travel on Thursday to compete at the 2001 CCAA Championship Tournament at UC San Diego. The Toros are vying for their third consecutive CCAA Championship Crown after winning the title in '99 and '00. The Toros enter the tournament as the No. 1 seed and will take on the No. 4 seed wild card participant Sonoma State from the North Division. The winner of that game will play for the conference title on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. against the Grand Canyon/UC Davis winner.

TOROS ON THE WEB: You can now access results, stories, statistics and other information about Toros soccer on the world wide web.