COLLEGES : Soccer Players Take the Long Way Home

Tricia Fuller and Jill Henderson never planned to spend their collegiate soccer career together. It just happened, according to the Cal State Dominguez Hills seniors.

Both women were South Bay prep standouts--Fuller at Rolling Hills and Henderson at West Torrance--and both played two years at El Camino College before transferring to Sonoma State.

Fuller was an All-South Coast Conference and all-state defender on El Camino’s 1990 state champion team and Henderson was the captain and an All-SCC midfielder.

Neither woman knew that the other was considering transferring from Sonoma State to Dominguez Hills for their final season of eligibility. But their reasoning was the same: Both were homesick.

“I feel more comfortable at home,” said Fuller, an All-Bay League and All-Southern Section defender at Rolling Hills. “I decided I wasn’t happy up there. It was a very difficult transition being away from my family and friends. It was also a culture shock, a very big culture shock.

“I was very lonely and I was bored. Basically there’s not a lot to do over there.”

Henderson, a midfielder who led West Torrance a Southern Section final, had the same problem. She says Sonoma’s rural surroundings did not suit her.

“It’s a different world out there,” she said. “It’s going from the beach area to cow country. I couldn’t get used to seeing sheep outside my window. It was really hard for me to adjust.”

The parallels don’t end there. When Fuller and Henderson joined the Sonoma State team, the Cossacks were the defending NCAA Division II champions, just like Dominguez Hills. The Toros (6-1-0) are also ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Division II.

“It’s hard because now I’m on a team that’s on top again,” Henderson said. “There’s a lot of pressure because we have to live up to being No. 1.”

Fuller does not feel any added pressure.

“I’m used to it,” she said. “I did it last year too.”

Fuller and Henderson played in last year’s NCAA championship game in which Dominguez Hills beat Sonoma State, 2-1, in Carson.

Is it a little strange wearing a Toro uniform now?

“I just don’t think about it,” said Fuller, who is a defender and midfielder. “This is the team I’m with and loyal to at the time. I’m a Toro now. I’m very happy with this team.”

Henderson, a midfielder, says at first it was awkward, but that her new teammates helped her through the transition.

“It was kind of weird at the beginning,” she said. “I guess sometimes it still is, especially during home games because I’m on the opposite side of the field.”

Fuller and Henderson scored their first goals in Dominguez Hills’ 6-0 victory over Chapman last week.

“They’ve helped us out tremendously,” Coach Marine Cano said. “I told them at the start that I will give them nothing. They have to earn a spot and they have. They’ve paid their dues and they’re working very hard.”

Cano says it was never an issue that Fuller and Henderson played for one of Dominguez Hills’ biggest rivals in 1991.

“All I know is they’re Toros,” he said. “I never saw them as Cossacks. As far as I know I’m their coach. They never played for anyone else. . . I’ve known them since they were kids. I told them I’d give them an opportunity because I knew they weren’t happy.”

Cano, who also coaches the Dominguez Hills men, won his 100th game as women’s coach on Tuesday when the Toros beat San Diego State, 2-1, in overtime.

The Dominguez Hills women have a 101-43-12 record in eight years under Cano. The Toros have finished the past three seasons ranked among the nation’s top 10 Division II teams.

Cano’s only losing season in Carson was in 1984, his first season as coach. The Toros finished 2-9-2. In 1985, the Toros finished 11-1-1.

“It’s very exciting to have 100 victories,” Cano said. “It’s a big accomplishment. I look back to that season when we had two wins and it’s unbelievable. Now we’re national champions. I’ve worked hard for a lot of years.

“At first my goal was just to get players. When I first came here we had 12 and two were injured.”

But Cano, 37, says he is often misunderstood.

“Some people think I take it too seriously,” he said, laughing. “But athletes know when they play for me there’s no slacking off.”

Although the El Camino women’s volleyball program has struggled in recent seasons, second-year Coach LeValley Pattison appears to be turning around the program.

Pattison, 28, was a setter at Mira Costa High and the captain of El Camino’s 1983 state championship team. The Warriors finished 5-9 in Pattison’s first season.

This year El Camino is 6-1 after finishing third at the 25-team Rancho Santiago tournament. The Warriors are led by freshman middle blockers Joanne Robertson (Carson High) and Kristy Blankinship (Torrance High). Nicole Cordova, a sophomore from Torrance High, is the starting setter and Debbie Cota (Torrance High) and Zuzana Tuma (Mira Costa High) are the outside hitters.

Pattison’s assistant is Karen Lontka. The two coaches were teammates at El Camino in 1983. Lontka became a Division II All-American at Cal State Northridge.

“The difference is that I had time to recruit and practice in the off-season,” said Pattison, a former assistant under Nina Matthies at Pepperdine. “We also have athletes with a little more experience.”

The Warriors open South Coast Conference play Oct. 14 at Pasadena City College.

Notes

The Loyola Marymount men’s cross-country team lost to Pepperdine, 20-39, last week, but the Lions’ Jose Quinonez finished the 5-K race second at 16 minutes 57 seconds. Pepperdine’s Jason Kite placed first at 16:42. . . Although the Cal State Dominguez Hills women’s volleyball team is struggling, senior outside hitter Heather Perini is having a standout season. The Toros are 3-13, but Perini, a transfer from Santa Monica City College, leads the team with 155 kills. . . El Camino’s Tom Dallen ranks third in the state in scoring among kickers with eight points.