CSUDH Men's Soccer Weekly Release
September 23, 2002

THIS WEEK IN TOROS SOCCER
Sept. 27 #3 CSUDH vs. Grand Canyon University Toro Field, 4 PM
Sept. 29 #3 CSUDH vs. UC San Diego Toro Field, 12:30 PM

LOOKING AHEAD: After a brief two-game road trip, the Toros will host Grand Canyon and UC San Diego this Friday and Sunday. Grand Canyon (3-4-0, 0-4-0 CCAA) enters the week in search of its first CCAA win while UCSD comes in with a 5-2-0 overall mark and is 3-2-0 in CCAA action.

TOROS HOLD ON FOR 1-0 WIN VERSUS BRONCOS: Everything was hot Sunday at Kellogg Field the weather, the teams and especially the action on the field. Cal Poly Pomona, though, saw its hopes for a major men's soccer upset go by the boards as No. 3 Cal State Dominguez Hills held on for a 1-0 victory. The Broncos saw a golden opportunity to send the game into overtime thwarted by a sensational diving stop by Cal State Dominguez Hills goalkeeper Javier Barragan (LB Jordan HS) on a point-blank shot by Edwin Portillo in the final minute of the game. Cal State Dominguez Hills got the only goal of the contest in the 23rd minute off a free kick by Victor Guerrero (Century HS). The game was a physical one, with the teams combining for 30 fouls and three yellow cards. Barragan had a strong game in the nets, especially late in the contest with the Broncos pressuring for the tying score. His diving stop on Portillo's bid was a beauty and he also held his ground on a late attempt by Daniel Siapin. The Toros outshot the Broncos, 14-8, but Cal Poly Pomona goalkeeper Garrett Williams had also an outstanding outing for the Broncos to give them a chance at the upset. Williams had six saves, including a sliding kick stop that thwarted an onrushing Eduardo Serrano on a breakaway in the second half.

TOROS SCORE THREE UNANSWERED GOALS IN 3-1 WIN: What started as a close match turned into a lopsided contest in the second half. A bout between two unbeaten teams resulted in favor of Cal State Dominguez Hills 3-1, after the Toros scored three unanswered goals to surge past Cal State San Bernardino during last Friday's CCAA contest at the Coyote field. Jason Koza put the Coyotes ahead 1-0 after blasting a shot to the far corner at the 22nd minute, but the lead did not last as Ryan Taylor (Ayala HS) scored the equalizer at the 44th minute for the Toros, whose unbeaten streak stretched seven games. Then the Toros, ranked No.1 in the Far West Region and No.3 in the nation, broke the tie by scoring two more goals in the second half-- one by Taylor and Eduardo Serrano. Four different Toros collected an assist (Jeff Kunze, Brian Suarez, Scott White and Victor Guerrero) and Taylor who led the team with a pair of goals also blasted the Coyotes for five of the Toros 18 shots. Javier Barragan earned the win in goal making three saves in the game.

INJURY UPDATE: All-America forward Gabriel Valencia (Salesian HS) is making steady progress after spraining his ankle against Cal State L.A. last week. What appeared to be an injury that was going to keep the senior out for at least 3-4 weeks, might be ready to go as early as Friday against Grand Canyon. Sophomore midfielder Brian Suarez (Mary Star of the Sea HS) injured his hamstring against Cal Poly Pomona on Sunday and is day-to-day.

SCOUTING THE ANTELOPES: Grand Canyon has not started the season on the right foot. GCU is in search of their first CCAA win at 0-4 and is 3-4-0 overall. The Antelopes are coming off a 0-1 loss to San Francisco State. Sergio Iniguez and Luiz Araujo pace the squad with 4 points each. Goalkeeper Nathan Edgin has seen all the time in goal compiling a 1.38 goals against average.

ABOUT THE TRITONS: UC San Diego enters the week with a 5-2-0 overall record and is second in the CCAA South Division with a 3-2 mark. UCSD is coming off a 4-0 win over San Francisco State last Sunday. Leading the Tritons with 12 points is Bobby Saadati with 5 goals and 2 assists. Goalie Jeremy Cookson has compiled a 0.79 goals against average allowing only 5 goals in 7 games.

TORO TID BITS: The Toros have now outscored their opponents 77-9 on the year with a 25-4 advantage in goals scored and 27-1 in assists. CSUDH has outshot the opposition 181-87. The Toros average 20.1 shots per game compared to only 9.7 shots for the opponents.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: Strong second halves have become almost second nature to the Toros. While holding a 7-2 goal advantage in the first halves of all games this year, CSUDH has smoked the opposition in the second half with an 18-2 goal advantage. The team has also outshot opponents 107-43 in the second period while also having a 34-9 edge in corner kicks.

GUERRERO CLOSING IN: Midfielder Victor Guerrero is closing in on the CSUDH all-time career assist record. The 6'0" junior playmaker has registered 8 assists on the season and now has 24 career assists which place him second all-time in the Toros record book. Next up is Sean Lockhart (2000-01) who holds the record with 28.

BARRAGAN BELONGS: In just 9 games in a CSUDH uniform, junior goalie Javier Barragan has shown he belongs already ranking among the top-10 in three Toros record lists. Barragan's 5 shutouts this year already rank him in a tie for 8th place for shutouts in a season and 10th in career shutouts. His 8 wins rank him 10th for career wins.

THE COACH: Head coach Joe Flanagan is in his ninth season at the helm of the Toros program. Last year Flanagan led CSUDH to its second consecutive appearance in the NCAA II National Championship game only to succumb to University of Tampa 2-1 in the final minutes of the game. Flanagan, the 2001 NCAA II Far West Region Coach of the Year, became the Toros all-time winningest coach last year and now is 111-51-9 (.675). CSUDH has now won the past three CCAA titles.

MORE FLANAGAN: Heading into this season, Flanagan in the 15th winningest active coach at the NCAA Division II level with a 111-51-9 record and a .675 winning percentage. The only coach on the West Coast that ranks higher than Flanagan is legendary Seattle Pacific mentor Cliff McCrath who leads all active coaches at any level with 530 wins.

NCAA II Men's National Poll (as of September 23, 2002)
1 Southern Connecticut State 6-0-0
2 Lynn University (FL) 8-0-0
3 Cal State Dominguez Hills 8-0-1
4 Clayton State (GA) 7-0-0
5 Barry University (FL) 6-0-1
6 Mercyhurst College (PA) 5-0-0
7 East Stroudsburg Univ. (PA) 5-0-0
8 Univ. of South Carolina-Spartanburg 8-0-0
9 Sonoma State 7-0-0
10 Midwestern State University (TX) 4-0-1
11 Lewis University (IL) 5-2-0
12 So. New Hampshire University 5-1-1
13 University of Incarnate Word (TX) 6-0-1
14 University of Wisconsin, Parkside 5-2-0
15 Bloomsburg University (PA) 8-0-0
16 Univ. of District of Columbia 5-2-1
17 Dowling College (NY) 2-1-1
18 Cal State Bakersfield 6-2-0
19 University of West Florida 6-2-0
20 Tusculum College (TN) 6-0-1
21 Rockhurst University (MO) 5-2-0
22 W. Virginia Wesleyan 5-1-0
23 Merrimack (MA) 6-1-1
24 University of Southern Colorado 4-1-1
25 Cal State San Bernardino 6-1-1

TOROS SPORTS HOTLINE: For results, schedules and other information on Toros soccer, call the Toros Sports Hotline 24 hours a day at (310) 243-3174.

TOROS ON THE WEB: Follow Toros athletics on the web. For latest scores, recaps and statistics, just stay where you are!