UCI, Titans to Join Women’s Soccer League

UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton are two of the seven schools that will have teams in the Big West Conference’s new women’s soccer league, which will begin play in the fall of 1996.

Commissioner Dennis Farrell said the top four teams in the regular season will advance to a postseason tournament to determine a championship, which will be worth an automatic berth in the NCAA Division I playoffs.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, UC Santa Barbara, Pacific, Utah State and North Texas also will compete in the league. Cal Poly and North Texas will join the Big West as full members in 1996.

Farrell said adding women’s soccer has “been in the works the past six months” and he can envision the conference adding more teams in the next few years.

“Women’s soccer, with the Title IX pressure, is an appealing sport because it provides a large number of opportunities for women to compete in intercollegiate athletics,” Farrell said.

Fullerton and Irvine now play independent schedules, which can make it difficult to receive at-large playoff berths. Irvine’s program has been in place since 1984; Fullerton has been competing the past two years.

“That’s why this is so exciting,” Irvine Coach Marine Cano said. “It gives my players a chance to play for a conference championship. Last year, my team played with no hope of going to any playoffs. Now we have a goal to achieve. Every athlete needs that.”

Long Beach State has no immediate plans to join the league, but Athletic Director Dave O’Brien sees a soccer program in the “short-term” future.