COLLEGE DIVISION / MITCH POLIN : Soccer’s Format Change Welcomed

Over the years, Cal State Dominguez Hills has had one of the top women’s soccer teams in NCAA Division II, including last season when the Toros were ranked No. 2 in the West Region behind Sonoma State.

But the Toros missed out on postseason play because only four teams were invited to the Division II playoffs--the top-ranked team from each of four national regions.

So while Sonoma State competed in the playoffs and went on to win the Division II title, CS Dominguez Hills stayed home despite playing in one of the strongest regions in the nation.

Fortunately for the Toros, the same scenario doesn’t figure to be played out this season, because the NCAA has expanded the Division II playoffs from four to six teams.

“If we had that format last year, we would have gone,” Dominguez Hills Coach Marine Cano said. “The West is by far the biggest, strongest and most competitive (region) in the nation, so I see two of the national championship tournament teams coming from this region.”

The West has four of the top 13 teams in the Division II rankings, including second-ranked Sonoma State and CS Dominguez Hills at No. 5. The others are Chico State and Cal Poly Pomona.

Cal Poly Pomona Coach Brian Wiesner, whose team is ranked 13th, said the expanded playoff format gives his team hope that it didn’t have last season.

“Adding the two teams in the tournament will provide us with more motivation than we’ve had in the past,” Wiesner said. “With four teams (in the playoffs), there’s no guarantee that (the NCAA selection committee) is going to go on anything but the national poll. But with six teams, we feel like other teams have a better chance.”

With 46 schools playing women’s soccer in Division II, Cano and Wiesner agree that the optimum number of teams in the playoffs would be eight, but neither is complaining.

“I would sure hope that they would increase it to eight in the future, but there’s just no way to know what the NCAA will do,” Wiesner said. “We fought real hard for this change, so we don’t know what they will do next.”

Cano said: “(The NCAA says) that six is enough, but I think another two would be nice. Eight is a downright viable number. I think we could live with that. But it took since 1987 to get it up to six, so I don’t see it happening right away.”

It doesn’t hurt the prospects for either school that women’s soccer has been included as a California Collegiate Athletic Assn. sport for the first time this year, with four teams competing for the title--Dominguez Hills, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State San Bernardino and Chapman. Air Force will join the CCAA for women’s soccer next season, and Cano said there is hope that a sixth school would be added to give the conference an automatic berth in the playoffs.

Wiesner said the future also appears promising because women’s soccer is still growing in the United States. Additionally, the U.S. team is regarded as No. 1 heading into the first women’s World Cup next month in China, which has generated positive publicity.

“That is making a lot more people interested in women’s soccer, and there is a trickle-down effect in Division II,” Wiesner said.

So, he is optimistic about the future of women’s soccer at the Division II level.

“We haven’t seen anything but change since we started in 1983, so it’s definitely going in the right direction,” Wiesner said. “We’d all like to see instant gratification, but as long as we’re going in the right direction, we can’t really complain.”

Occidental and Redlands appear to have emerged as co-favorites for the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football championship.

Defending champion Redlands had been regarded by most coaches as the favorite, and the Bulldogs haven’t been a disappointment despite a nonconference loss to the University of San Diego two weeks ago. With its 44-3 victory over Claremont-Mudd last week, Redlands is 2-0 in conference play.

Occidental has made a big impression with victories in its first two games. The Tigers defeated Pomona-Pitzer, 31-9, and then Azusa Pacific, 19-14. Azusa was ranked No. 18 in the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics Division II poll.

The title could be decided when Redlands plays at Occidental on Nov. 2.

College Division Notes

The Cal Lutheran football team may have scored the upset of the week among College Division teams in the Southland with its 21-20 victory over previously undefeated San Diego. It was the first victory of the season for the Kingsmen (1-3) and the first loss for San Diego (2-1). The Kingsmen were led by Cassidy O’Sullivan, who ran for 100 yards and scored two touchdowns. . . . The La Verne football team improved its record to 2-1 with a 38-10 victory over Pomona-Pitzer last week. It was the second victory in a row for La Verne after it had lost to Redlands, 27-20, in its opener.

The Cal Poly Pomona women’s volleyball team probably will move up in the NCAA Division II rankings after a five-game victory over fourth-ranked Cal State Bakersfield at the CS Bakersfield tournament last Saturday. Pomona, ranked No. 13 in Division II, finished second to Bakersfield in the tournament as junior outside hitter Mitsue Tomoyasa earned most-valuable-player honors. . . . The Cal Lutheran men’s and women’s soccer teams, which are undefeated in SCIAC play at 4-0 in their first season in the conference, should get their most difficult tests of the season when they visit co-leader Claremont-Mudd-Scripps today. The Cal Lutheran women have been sparked by forward Rachel Wackerman, who has 13 goals in seven games this season.

Cal State San Bernardino played its first official match as a member of the CCAA when it met visiting Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in men’s soccer Wednesday. . . . Jim Colbert, who competes on the Senior PGA Tour, will be guest speaker at the awards dinner for the CS San Bernardino Coyote golf tournament on Oct. 22 at Shandin Hills Golf Club in San Bernardino. Proceeds will go toward golf scholarships at the school. Information: (714) 880-5011.