Toros Talking of Title Defense

The afterglow of the NCAA Division II national championship won by the Cal State Dominguez Hills women’s soccer team may linger for some time, but the Toros are already looking ahead to next year.

“That’s the first thing I thought about--next year,” Dominguez Hills midfielder Jennifer Grasso said. “I can’t wait. I don’t think anybody can.”

Grasso helped the Toros to a 2-1 victory over top-ranked Somona State in Sunday’s championship game. She had two goals and an assist in the series and was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

“It was the best, the ultimate feeling I’ve experienced as a player or coach,” Coach Marine Cano said. “There’s nothing that compares to what happened here Sunday. Nothing. I’ve never had a feeling like that before.

“When I first got the job here in 1984, I started dreaming about an NCAA title. If I would have told anyone about that, they would have locked me up. So to actually have the dream fulfilled is unbelievable. Not only that, but to play in front of our home crowd was an honor. Not only an honor, it was monumental!”

The sixth-ranked Toros, hampered because of injuries all season, tied Cal Poly Pomona for the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. title before defeating three higher-ranked teams in the playoffs. Their playoff run started with a 2-1 overtime victory over Marcyhurst College Nov. 9 in Erie, Pa.

Last week Dominguez Hills (18-4-1) returned home and beat Barry University of Florida, 3-0, in the semifinals. Barry, the 1989 national champion, has made five consecutive Final Four appearances, but the second-ranked Lady Bucs could not handle the Toros’ physical style of play.

“They totally took us out of our tempo,” Barry Coach Mike Covone said. “They came after us and took a little steam off of us.”

The Toros did the same to Somona State, a team that defeated Dominguez Hills, 1-0, on Oct. 26. The victory was especially pleasurable to Grasso.

“The whole weekend they were so arrogant and cocky,” Grasso said. “There was no doubt in their minds that they were going to take it again. We knew they were on their high horses and they needed to be knocked down.”

Toro forward Amy Rubin broke the school career-scoring record (100) with a second-half goal on Sunday. The junior from Hawthorne High finished the season with 19 goals and 42 points despite missing most of five games because of a knee injury. Freshman forward Staci Blough also had a productive season with 15 goals and 32 points.

The Toros, however, relied on their defense. The team allowed only 11 goals, and sophomore goalie Briana O’Dowd had 13 1/2 shutouts.

“I like to call my team the ‘No Goal Patrol,’ ” Cano said. “We strive to keep the net free of soccer balls. I threw Briana to the wolves last year as a freshman. Now she’s found her skills as a goalkeeper at a very young age, and she’s only going to get better. By her senior year she’ll be one of the best goalkeepers in the country.”

Cano said a big part of the team’s success was its unity. He believes his club had the perfect combination of talent and chemistry.

“This team is very tightknit,” he said. “We like to use the theme ‘We Are Family.’ They are very close. They’re also very good. I believe at least four or five players on our team can play anywhere in the country.”

Ironically, the Toros were virtually overlooked in CCAA postseason honors. The CCAA coach of the year was Pomona’s Brian Wiesner and the player of the year was Cal State San Bernardino’s Jackie Powers, despite the fact that Rubin led the nation in scoring.

Only four Dominguez Hills players earned All-CCAA honors, while Pomona had eight, San Bernardino seven and Chapman six.

“Our conference . . . it’s very funny how it works,” Cano said. “Our gals got a big vindication with Sunday’s win. A national title, this is what it’s all about. We’re the No. 1 team no matter what the CCAA says.”

And with all of this season’s starters back, the Toros will be tough to beat again next year.