She Pulls Out All the Stops : Soccer: Cal State Dominguez Hills’ Briana O’Dowd has become one of the nation’s best goalies.

As a former professional goalkeeper, Marine Cano’s philosophy as coach of the Cal State Dominguez Hills women’s soccer team has always been that the best offense starts with a strong defense.

“When I was a player, and as a young coach, I learned from an early age that you start from the back and go forward,” Cano says. “You can score all the goals you want but you need somebody who can stop the other team from scoring.”

In junior Briana O’Dowd, Cano has a goalkeeper who more than meets his requirements.

O’Dowd, 20, is the school’s all-time leader in shutouts and wins and is second with a career goals-against average of 0.54. As a sophomore, she had an 0.46 goals-against average to help the Toros win their first NCAA Division II title. This season, she has a 0.61 average.

O’Dowd has a career record of 41-10-4 for the third-ranked Toros, who play host to Sonoma State today at noon.

“I haven’t seen a goalkeeper that we’ve played yet that’s as good as her, and we’ve seen some good ones,” Cano said. “We play a tough schedule and we play a lot of Division I teams. So she’s got a lot of experience and she’s seen good competition.”

O’Dowd’s development is surprising when you consider that she didn’t start playing the position regularly until her senior year at Dana Hills High.

“I didn’t become a goalkeeper until my junior year in high school and even then it was an accident,” she said. “Our regular goalkeeper got hurt and the coach sent me in to play one game, and the game went into penalty kicks. I ended up saving a few (shots) and (the coach) decided to turn me into a goalkeeper after that.”

Although she earned All-South Coast League and All-Southern Section second-team honors, O’Dowd was far from a polished goalie.

“It’s kind of strange but when I first saw her play in high school, I thought she had a lot of weaknesses in her game,” Cano said. “But mentally, she was always in the game and she could organize her defense. . . . She was always very fearless and very coachable and that’s the kind of player I like to have on my team.”

But she developed fast enough to receive considerable playing time as a freshman.

“She started as a freshman and I had a goalkeeper back from the previous year who was all-tournament (at the Division II final) in Florida,” Cano said. “I just felt if she could do that as a freshman, imagine what she could do as a sophomore.”

O’Dowd gives much of the credit for her development to Cano, who was a goalkeeper in five professional leagues, including the North American Soccer League and the American Soccer League. He also played on the 1976 U.S. national team.

“I think even for the field players, a goalkeeper makes a good coach because he can see everything on the field,” O’Dowd said. “I wouldn’t trade (Cano) for anyone. I think he understands more than a field player would.”

Cano says his experience as a goalie can be a curse as well as a blessing for O’Dowd.

“I feel for her sometimes because I expect more out of her than I do for other players and that’s got to be hard on her,” he said. “It’s tough, but I think she’s also built a lot of character because of it.”

For the most part, though, O’Dowd said it has been a beneficial experience.

“He has very high expectations and that’s very good because he makes me play my best,” she said. “If I play up to his expectations, I know I can be the best goalkeeper in the country and it is very demanding. But that’s what makes him a good coach too.”

With Cano’s help, O’Dowd has become the Toros’ unofficial player-coach.

“When I first came here, I didn’t know that talking was a big part of a goalkeeper’s position, and he taught me that organizing is an important part of the goalkeeper’s position,” O’Dowd said. “I used to just go out and do whatever would happen on the field. He’s taught me everything I know about being a goalkeeper.”

Cano said O’Dowd can improve her conditioning.

“I think the only reason right now that she hasn’t staked claim to becoming the best goalkeeper in the country is that her conditioning hasn’t reached the point where she takes it as a year-round thing,” he said.