‘Character--That’s What We Want’ : Dominguez Hills Soccer Coach Sees Attitude as Key to Winning

Marine Cano stood on a soccer field at Alta Vista Park in Redondo Beach the other day, exhorting youthful followers at one of his summer soccer camps to be the best they can be.

“Character. That’s what we want,” he told a hundred boys and girls. “Let’s see what kind of character you have.”

Cano, the feisty men’s and women’s soccer coach at Cal State Dominguez Hills, also sees that attitude playing a major role in the Toros’ intercollegiate chances this fall. Both teams return fine players with the potential to produce a pair of the school’s best seasons. And as Cano sees it, the only thing that will hurt either group is a poor mental attitude. “If we live up to our potential, we’ll do OK,” he said.

There are coaches who prod. Others coerce. Then there is Cano, who applies the screws early. In front of his young soccer charges at Alta Vista, Cano introduced several Toro players working for the camp by saying that they were going to be the best in the school’s history.

Pressure? Sure. As a professional goalie Cano thrived on it. The 34-year-old Redondo Beach resident, unlike most coaches who play down their team’s chances this early in a season, Cano thinks truth is the best test.

“If I don’t set my goals high, how are we going to achieve anything?” he asks.

Character , then, will be the operative word this fall at the Carson campus.

“Mediocrity doesn’t set well with me,” he said.

On paper, both teams appear to be strong. Following scrimmages with a powerful women’s club team and the men from UCLA on Wednesday, Cano will know for sure.

The Toro men, 1988 California Collegiate Athletic Assn. co-champion, return all 11 starters for its Sept. 1 opener at Biola University. Eight starters return for the women, including seven seniors. Nine top-flight newcomers also join the club.

“It’s kind of scary after this year to think what it will be like without them,” Cano said about the players in their final years.

Cano has already had a small taste of losing. His women’s assistant coach, Bill Merrell, left recently to reassume the head job at UC Berkeley. Merrell hired another Cano assistant, Andy Bonchonsky, to be his assistant at Cal. No replacements for them have been found.

“I’m big on quality and right now with no assistant coach I’m looking (for someone),” Cano said.

Still, the women’s program (8-7-4 in ‘88) is probably Cano’s stronger, posing a mixture of defensive prowess, strength and speed as it works toward its season opener Sept. 2 against Lady Toro alumni.

Of the midfield play consisting mainly of Kristi White, Jeanine Charroux and freshman Jennifer Grasso, Cano says, “It is possibly the best in the nation, Division I or II.” Grasso, a celebrated high school player from Chula Vista, could be one of the top goal scorers in the nation, Cano said.

Four players are battling senior Conni Cowman, a transfer from El Camino, and Deonna Collins, a freshman from Corona del Mar, for backfield spots.

Sweepers Mandi Robertson (Huntington Beach) and Laura Moses (Torrance) return, as does middle stopper Donna Robertson (Huntington Beach).

A question mark is Lynor Johnson, who Cano says “has the potential to score 20 goals” this season. Johnson, according to the coach, is a “blue-collar worker” who can change the nature of the game if she wants to. But it’s unclear as to whether the senior forward from Redondo Beach will crack the starting lineup.

“We have a very strong team, a good base with 12 returning players and nine newcomers,” Cano said. “We have seasoned veterans.”

Women’s soccer teams do not compete in athletic conferences, but Cano expects three teams from the West to be selected for the NCAA Division II playoffs. However, competition nationwide is much better this season and “anything resembling a record like we had last year will not (get you into the playoffs),” Cano said. Defending national champion Cal State Hayward and No. 3 Sonoma State are on the Lady Toro schedule.

The Toro men surprised a few people when they tied Cal State Northridge for the CCAA title last season, posting a 13-5-1 overall record.

“Last season we did unexpectedly well,” Cano said. “This year the boys must realize that they are a very good team, but that doesn’t mean we can just show up . . . . There are other very good teams out there.”

Cano hopes to crank up the scoring machine.

“We will be very offensive. We will be looking to score a lot of goals.”

To facilitate more firepower, the Toros will experiment with only three defensemen instead of four. Cano hopes that will free the shooting touch of players like Kaveh Rezagahi (a naturalized citizen from Iran who has not played in college), Willie Ayala (El Salvador) and Joe Flanagan (Torrance), who is eight goals shy of setting a school scoring record.

But playing only three defenders may put added pressure on goalie Chris Wilson, a senior from Torrance.

Said Cano: “I expect good things from him.”

In the midfield area Cano is looking over “six guys who can start.” Martin Mira (San Pedro) is expected to be a sweeper.

Under Cano, who begins his sixth season, Dominguez Hills has always had competitive teams, although coaching two teams simultaneously has kept him busy. Now, with playoff prospects looking bright, Cano could face a few additional weeks of double duty, hectically scrambling from one practice field to the other on the same day to coach both clubs.

A schedule like that is enough to test anyone’s character.