CSUDH Men's Soccer Weekly Release
November 21, 2001

NEXT WEEK IN TOROS SOCCER
NCAA Final Four hosted by University of Tampa
Nov. 30 #4 CSUDH vs. #3 Dowling College (NY) 5 pm
Nov. 30 #10 SIU-Edwardsville vs. #2 University of Tampa 8 pm
Dec. 2 CSUDH/Dowling winner vs. Tampa/SIU-Edwardsville winner 1 pm

LOOKING AHEAD: The Toros will travel next week for the NCAA Final Four to be held at the University of Tampa (FL) from November 30 - December 2. CSUDH will take on Dowling College (NY) in the first semifinal game on Friday, Nov. 30. The winner will advance to the championship game against the winner of the other semifinal game featuring Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville/University of Tampa.

TOROS ADVANCE TO FINAL FOUR WITH 2-0 WIN OVER WEST TEXAS A&M: Toros forward Scott White (Sonora HS) broke a scoreless tie in the 78th minute to propel the defending national champion Toros past host West Texas A&M 2-0 in NCAA quarterfinal action in Canyon, Texas on Sunday. Both squads would battle through a physical defensive battle until the 78:47 minute mark when White struck with the game-winner. Freshman midfielder Rick Cobb (Warren HS) played a ball over the WTAMU defense to the feet of White who beat a defender then the Buffaloes' goalkeeper Paul Hart with a shot to the near post. White missed two earlier opportunities but made up for them with the game-winning shot.

"I wasn't going to miss that shot," said White. "I missed my first two shots earlier and I knew I had to put that one away."

The Toros weren't finished scoring 28 seconds later to give them a 2-0 lead. Freshman Kevin Sosa (Torrance HS) played a ball to senior Nathan Ballard (Sonora HS) who played a through ball from midfield to senior Sean Lockhart (Palm Springs HS). Lockhart ran onto the ball and fired his shot at 79:15 to the far post past the diving West Texas goalie to close out the scoring on the day. CSUDH senior goalkeeper Luis Morales (Banning HS) recorded 10 saves in the net to record his fourth consecutive shutout and his 11th of the year. CSUDH, who beat West Texas A&M by the same score in the NCAA quarterfinals last year in Carson, knew it was going to be a battle today but their championship experience paid off.

"The game was back and forth all day," said Cal State Dominguez Hills head coach Joe Flanagan. "We finally got one behind the defense and was able to put it away."

West Texas finished the game with with a 12-11 shot advantage, but couldn't finish their chances.

"It was a tough way to lose," said WTAMU coach Butch Lauffer. "We had lots of chances, but we have to do better at critical times. We kept thinking that the next chance would go, but we have to give them credit for not breaking."

Cal State Dominguez Hills, ranked No. 4 in the final regular season NSCAA polls, advance to their second consecutive Final Four berth at the University of Tampa. CSUDH will face Dowling College (NY) in the semifinals who were 2-1 winners in three overtime periods over Southern Connecticut State in the other quarterfinal on Sunday.

ONE AND ONLY: Of the four team's participating in the 2001 Final Four, CSUDH is the only returner from last year's championship tournament at Barry University in Miami Shores, FL. Getting back to the Final Four in consecutive seasons has been said to be difficult at best. That was proven this year when three of last year's Final Four teams failed to make the return trip to the semifinals this season. Last year featured CSUDH, Barry, Lewis and East Stroudsburg. This year, Barry failed to make it to the South regional while top-ranked Lewis University lost to SIU-Edwardsville 2-0 in the Central regional. East Stroudsburg was eliminated 2-0 by Dowling in the Northeast regional.

THE COACH: Head coach Joe Flanagan is in his eighth season at the helm of the Toros program. Last year Flanagan led CSUDH to their first-ever national championship with a 2-1 four-overtime victory over Barry University in Miami Shores, FL. The squad finished with a 23-1-1 record, the best mark in the NCAA. Flanagan, the 2000 NCAA II National Coach of the Year, became the Toros all-time winningest coach earlier this season and now is 102-50-8 (.663). Flanagan won his 100th career game when the Toros shutout UC Davis 1-0 in the CCAA Championship game. CSUDH has now won the past three CCAA titles. Coach Flanagan was named the 2001 CCAA Coach of the Year for the second season in a row.

MORE FLANAGAN: Flanagan is now a perfect 12-0 in postseason play dating back to 1999. He is 6-0 in the CCAA Conference Tournament and 6-0 in the NCAA playoffs dating back to last year.

MORALES BREAKS ALL-TIME SHUTOUT RECORD: Senior goalie Luis Morales continues to break his own all-time record for shutouts in a season. Earlier this year, Morales broke the record with his eighth shutout of the year. Since then, he has notched three more goose eggs and now has 11 shutouts this season; four more than the previous record (7) set by Steve Martin (1982) and Chris Wilson (1988).

SHUTOUT SPECIALISTS: Going into the Final Four in Tampa, FL, five of the Toros six NCAA playoff wins dating back to last year have been by shutout. Last year, CSUDH defeated Seattle Pacific 4-0 in the 1st round, WTAMU 2-0 in the quarterfinals and Lewis 1-0 in the semifinals. The shutout streak was snapped in the 2-1 4-ot win over Barry in the championship. This year, the Toros opened with a 1-0 1st round win against CS Bakersfield followed by last week's 2-0 shutout over West Texas A&M.

QUALITY, NOT QUANTITY: In three seasons, junior forward Scott White has now tallied nine career goals. Not an eye-opening statistic. However, the magnitude of his goals is another story. In 1999, White's first career goal tied the game against Cal Poly Pomona in the 86th minute in the last game of the season which allowed the Toros to win in overtime 2-1, propelling the team to the CCAA Tournament. In the semifinals of the CCAA Tournament in 1999, White knocked in the game-winner against UC Davis in the 2-1 win over the Aggies. Last year, White had the game-winner against San Francisco State which began a 13-game winning streak to end the season. Then last Sunday, White knocked in the winning shot in the 78th minute to send the Toros back to the Final Four.

TOROS IN THE POSTSEASON: This is the fourth NCAA appearance with the Toros posting a 6-2-0 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 Sunday's contest, the Toros have won 6-straight NCAA playoff games.

LEADING THE STAMPEDE: The Toros are now 19-2-1 and ranked No. 4 in the final NSCAA regular season polls. The team has won five straight games and nine of the past 10. A balanced offensive attack and a steady, tough defense has set the tone for the squad all year. CSUDH has six players scoring in double figures. Sean Lockhart leads the squad with 43 points (16g, 11a). Gabriel Valencia ranks second with 27 points (12g, 3a). Eddie Gonzales-Pinto (N. Torrance HS), Rick Cobb (Warren HS) and Scott White are third on the team with 17 points each. Victor Guerrero (Century HS) rounds out the top scorers with 15 points (4g, 7a). Goalie Luis Morales has recorded a 0.87 goals against average in the net and a 19-2-1 record with 11 shutouts in 2,061 minutes.

LOCKHART CLOSING IN: Senior midfielder Sean Lockhart is closing in on the Toros all-time record for points in a season. He currently has 43 points on 16 goals and 11 assists. The record is 46 points set last year by Alex Bengard and Juan Carlos Bolanos en route to the NCAA title. Lockhart already owns the all-time career assists mark with 26 in under two years in a CSUDH uniform. He shattered the previous mark of 19 set by Martin Mira from 1987-90.

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

TOROS SPORTS HOTLINE: Get all the latest scores, Toros headlines and scheduling information 24 hours a day by calling the Toros Sports Hotline at (310) 243-3174.