CSUDH Men's Soccer Weekly Release
November 6, 2001

THIS WEEK IN TOROS SOCCER
Nov. 10 #4 CSUDH vs. Cal State Bakersfield Toro Field, 1 pm

LOOKING AHEAD: The Toros begin defense of their national championship with a first-round NCAA playoff game against Cal State Bakersfield here in Carson. The winner will play the winner of the West Texas A&M/Fort Lewis matchup in the Midwest Regional.

TOROS THREE-PEAT AS CCAA CHAMPIONS: The Toros defeated UC Davis 1-0 in the CCAA Championship Game at UC San Diego to win their third consecutive league title. Cal State Dominguez Hills became the first CCAA school to win three conference crowns in a row since former league member Cal State Northridge won four championships straight from 1984-87. Senior All-America defender Joe Cartlidge's (Redondo Union HS) header in the 60th minute was all the scoring the Toros would need as the defense held on for the hard-fought shutout. Cartlidge's game-winning shot came off a corner kick from 2001 CCAA Player of the Year Sean Lockhart (Palm Springs HS). The goal highlighted a well-played defensive match that featured a pair of outstanding saves, including an unofficial one by freshman CSUDH defender Rick Cobb (Warren HS) that preserved the win. With less than 10 seconds to play in the match, UC Davis pushed forward and goalie Jason Kong drilled a bullet to the left side of the net and out of reach of CSUDH goalie Luis Morales (Banning HS). Cobb, playing just in front of the goal line in prevent mode, met Kong's blast head on and cleared it just before time expired. The Toros threatened to make it 2-0 minutes earlier when an uncontested Lockhart fired a rocket that Kong blocked to keep the Aggies within striking distance. Morales earned the shutout, his ninth of the season, with one save in goal.

TOROS DEFEAT SONOMA STATE TO ADVANCE TO TITLE GAME: Senior midfielder Sean Lockhart scored a goal and added an assist to lead CSUDH to a 3-0 win over Sonoma State in the CCAA semifinals at UC San Diego. Lockhart opened the scoring with a tremendous effort in the 15th minute as he slide-tackled the ball away from a Cossack opponent and curved his shot to the upper right corner of the net from 30 yards out. The two squads battled for the next 55 minutes before the Toros' Gabriel Valencia matched Lockhart's effort with a spectacular one of his own. After taking a pass at midfield, Valencia beat two defenders with a pair of nifty crossover dribbles and drilled a shot past SSU goalie Matt Bernard to put the match out of reach. "Gabe made a great run and that seemed to break Sonoma State's back," said CSUDH head coach Joe Flanagan. Brian Suarez (Mary Star of the Sea HS) capped the scoring in the 84th minute when he tallied his first goal of the season. Suarez took a feed from Lockhart, side-stepped a defender, and scored from 10 yards away. Morales made five saves in the net to record his record-breaking eight shutout of the year.

LOCKHART NAMED CCAA PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Sean Lockhart was named the 2001 CCAA Most Valuable Player of the Year in a vote of league coaches over the weekend. Lockhart, a senior midfielder from Palm Springs High School in Palm Springs, CA, led the No. 4-ranked and defending NCAA National Champion Toros to a 17-2-1 overall record and their third consecutive CCAA Championship. Lockhart leads the Toros with 41 points on 15 goals and 11 assists. He has also registered a team-high six game-winning goals including the winning shot on Friday in CSUDH's 3-0 semifinal win over Sonoma State. The announcement marks the second year in a row a CSUDH player has been selected league MVP. Juan Carlos Bolanos earned the honor last year en route to being named the NCAA II Player of the Year.

FLANAGAN NAMED CCAA COACH OF THE YEAR: Head coach Joe Flanagan was named the CCAA Coach of the Year for the second year in a row. It also marks the third time Flanagan has earned the honor during his 8-year tenure at CSUDH. This season, Flanagan led the No. 4 ranked and defending national champion Toros to a 17-2-1 overall mark and their third consecutive CCAA title.

FLANAGAN RECEIVES CENTURY CLUB MEMBERSHIP FOR BIRTHDAY: Flanagan received about as good a present he could ask for on his birthday last Sunday. when his players presented him the CCAA Championship Crown. He also joined an elite group of NCAA coaches with the 1-0 win over UC Davis on Sunday marking his 100th career victory. Flanagan's career record in eight seasons now stands at 100-50-8 for an impressive .658 winning percentage. Earlier this year, Flanagan became CSUDH's all-time winningest coach breaking former mentor Marine Cano's career mark.

TOROS LAND SEVEN PLAYERS ON ALL-CCAA SQUADS: Sean Lockhart led a group of seven CSUDH players named to the 2001 All-CCAA squads. Joining League MVP Lockhart on the First Team All-CCAA squad was senior All-America defender Joe Cartlidge and junior forward Gabriel Valencia. Earning second team honors were senior goalkeeper Luis Morales, senior defender Nathan Ballard (Sonora HS), sophomore midfielder Eddie Gonzales-Pinto (N. Torrance HS) and freshman defender Rick Cobb.

MORALES BREAKS ALL-TIME SHUTOUT RECORD: Senior goalie Luis Morales broke the all-time CSUDH single season shutout record after posting the goose egg on Friday in the Toros 3-0 CCAA semifinal win over Sonoma State. That shutout gave him eight this year breaking the previous mark of seven held by Steve Martin and Chris Wilson. Morales then broke his own record on Sunday with a 1-0 shutout over UC Davis in the CCAA Championship Game.

TOROS IN THE POSTSEASON: This is the fourth NCAA appearance with the Toros posting a 4-2-0 record in postseason play. CSUDH's first appearance was in 1982 where they lost in the quarterfinals (0-2) to Missouri-St. Louis. The team then qualified for the NCAA's in 1988 but lost to Cal State Northridge 3-1 in the opening round. In that game, current head coach Joe Flanagan scored the Toros lone goal. Then came the 11-year drought followed by last years magical championship season. Going into Saturday's contest, the Toros have won 4-straight NCAA playoff games.

TOROS VS. 'RUNNERS SERIES NOTES: Cal State Dominguez Hills leads the all-time series 27-12-4 including winning eight straight dating back to 1997 before their 1-0 loss in Bakersfield two weeks ago. Saturday's playoff game will mark their third meeting this season. CSUDH defeated Bakersfield 3-0 here in Carson. In that game, Sean Lockhart scored twice to pace the Toros attack.

LEADING THE STAMPEDE: CSUDH has six players scoring in double figures. Sean Lockhart leads the squad with 41 points (15g, 11a). Gabriel Valencia ranks second with 25 points (11g, 3a). Eddie Gonzales-Pinto has tallied 17 points (7g, 3a). Rick Cobb has scored 16 points in his freshman campaign while Scott White and Victor Guerrero (Century HS) round out the top scorer's with 15 points each. Goalie Luis Morales has recorded a 0.96 goals against average in the net.

BEEP!...BEEP!: Cal State Bakersfield enters this weekend's game with a 12-8-0 overall record. They finished second to the Toros in the CCAA Central Division race with a 9-5-0 mark. Sophomore forward Kyle Gookins leads the Roadrunner attack with 21 points (9g, 3a). Alfredo Chavez, Fabian Sandoval and Mark Melling all follow with 12 points each. Melling has a team-best 10 assists. Joey Mejias rounds out five CSUB players in double figures offensively with 11 points. CCAA Freshman of the Year Josh Wicks has recorded eight shutouts this year with a 0.99 goals against average in 16 games. He is 11-5-0 on the year in goal.

TICKET INFORMATION: Tickets for the Saturday's opening round of the NCAA playoffs are as follows: Adults: $6.00; Students (with I.D.): $3.00; Seniors (55+): $3.00; Children (12 & under): $3.00. NO PASSES WILL BE ACCEPTED.

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