COLLEGES / IRENE GARCIA : Toro Soccer Teams Looked Good Out of Gate, but Faded in the Stretch

The 1993 soccer season has been somewhat of a nightmare for Cal State Dominguez Hills men’s and women’s Coach Marine Cano.

Both teams had promising starts, but each has faltered. The women’s team, a national powerhouse in NCAA Division II, has been the biggest disappointment.

For the first time since 1988, the Toros will miss the playoffs. They finish the season Sunday with a nonleague home game against the University of Denver.

Dominguez Hills is ranked 14th in this week’s Division II poll, its lowest ranking since 1988. The Toros’ 10-8-1 record (2-4 in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn.) is their worst since 1985.

“It’s been tough,” Cano said. “Our luck hasn’t been the best. We’ve had our opportunities but we just didn’t cash in.”

With nine returning players, including seven starters from a 17-3 team, Cano said this was going to be his best team in 10 years as Toro coach. After the women were ranked fifth in a Division II preseason poll, Cano said the Toros had more depth, speed and skill than the 1991 team that won the national championship.

But injuries to three defensive players hurt the squad. The Toros have already given up a school-record 27 goals.

“All teams have to deal with injuries,” Cano said. “It’s not an excuse. The teams I’ve had here have been very aggressive and this team is very coachable and it gives a lot of effort, but it doesn’t know the Dominguez Hills aggressive style yet. The aggression hasn’t come through in key tough games.

“It’s had a hard time stepping it up a level in big games. It’s been very frustrating.”

Cano says the problem should be corrected by 1994. He plans to recruit at least five players, some of them from community colleges.

“I’m going to recruit a lot of JC transfers,” he said. “I’m really going to try to get some already developed and molded players so I can polish them up and get more out of them right away.”

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Senior forward Teresa Bateman leads the CCAA in scoring with 28 points and senior midfielder Jennifer Womack is three assists away from breaking the school career record of 33.

Bateman transferred to Dominguez Hills after two seasons at El Camino College and was named to the 1992 CCAA first team.

Womack is a two-time West Region selection.

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At midseason, the men’s team was doing so well it was ranked in the Division II poll for the first time since 1988. The Toros were 16th as recently as a month ago.

But injuries plagued the team, which is 6-7-2, 2-5-2 in the CCAA with three games remaining. The Toros were missing three starters Wednesday, when they were defeated by conference rival Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 1-0.

“This has been the toughest year I’ve had here as a men’s coach because I know if I had all my pistons out there we’d be winning,” Cano said. “There is nothing wrong with this team’s aggressiveness or style of play. The problem is that not once this season did I have the group I’d want to start.”

Dominguez Hills will have the core of its starters back in 1994.

“We’re going to plug some holes and we’re going to be very good,” he said. “I know we’ll be fine on the men’s side.”

Notes

Loyola Marymount’s Judey Petix and Cindy Carullo became the school’s first women soccer players to score five points in a game. Petix had two goals and an assist and Carullo had one goal and three assists in the Lions’ 4-2 overtime victory against Cal State Fullerton. Petix, a sophomore midfielder, also broke a school record by attempting seven shots against Fullerton. Carullo, a freshman midfielder, has a school-record 20 goals this season. . . . The Cal State Dominguez Hills women’s volleyball team will begin the second round of CCAA play at Cal Poly Pomona on Wednesday. The Toros are 8-18, 0-5 in the six-member conference.