Toros’ Future Is Linked to Their Past : Women’s soccer: Snub by NCAA has become rallying cry for fifth-ranked team, which opens season Saturday.

Saturday will mark the beginning of a new season for the Cal State Dominguez Hills women’s soccer team, but memories of the 1992 linger.

Despite going 17-3, 6-0 in California Collegiate Athlete Assn. play and maintaining the NCAA Division II’s No. 1 ranking for most of the season, the Toros did not get a chance to defend their 1991 NCAA title.

The NCAA grants four automatic and two wild card berths. Sonoma State was awarded the last wild card berth over Dominguez Hills because the Cowssacks defeated the Toros, 1-0, during the season.

“It was disgraceful,” Toro Coach Marine Cano said. “We had the second-best record in the country. “Vengeance is our motto this year. We’re going to take it out on everybody. We’re going to play rock ‘n’ roll soccer.”

Forward Teresa Bateman remains mystified by the NCAA’s snub.

“Basically, we don’t get any respect and that pushes me to do better,” she said. “We’ll be a tough team to beat for sure.”

The fifth-ranked Toros return nine players, including seven starters. Cano says this is one of the best teams in his 10 years as Toro coach.

But replacing Amy Rubin and Jennifer Grasso should be a challenge. Rubin is the school’s all-time scorer with 61 goals and Grasso was a two-time All-American. Grasso will assist Cano this season.

“This team has more depth than the ’91 NCAA champs,” Cano said. “It also has more speed and probably more skill. The question is, does it have the aggression that the ’91 team had?”

Returning players include Bateman, midfielder Jennifer Womack, defender Melissa Fiala and sweeper Joanna Enserro.

Womack, a 5-foot-8 senior, is a two-time West Region selection. She had six goals, 11 assists and 23 points in 1992 and could break the school assist record.

Bateman, a 5-8 senior and 1992 transfer from El Camino College, was a first-team CCAA selection. She was the Toros’ second-leading scorer with 11 goals and 27 points.

“She is the one,” Cano said. “She is the person we’re going to go to score goals. She’s strong and fast and possesses one of the hardest shots in the country.”

Fiala, a 5-9 junior, was named to the CCAA first team. She had three goals and two assists. Enserro, a 5-6 junior and first-team CCAA player, has given up only 23 goals in two seasons.

Cano is expecting sophomore midfielders Gwen Nakashima and Ann Klein to improve their play. Nakashima, a Torrance High grad whose twin, Wendy, is a defender for the Toros, scored 10 points in ’92 and Klein had nine.

Freshmen include midfielders Marilyn Huschka and Stacy Howell. Huschka helped Torrance win back-to-back Southern Section titles. She was an All-Pioneer League player as a senior after totaling 12 goals and eight assists.

Cano has been impressed with Howell, who played at Riverside Arlington High.

“We’re going to have a high-scoring team,” Cano said. “We don’t have superstars, but we have a well-balanced attack. We’re out to score a ton of goals this year.”

The Toros will play host to Pacific Lutheran University at 1 p.m. Saturday and San Francisco State at 1 p.m. Sunday. Dominguez Hills opens CCAA play on Oct. 2 at Cal State San Bernardino.

*

The Dominguez Hills men’s soccer team will open the season at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Cal State Northridge. The Toros were 8-9-3 and 4-5-3 in the CCAA in 1992.

The Toros open league play Sept. 29 at Cal State L.A.