Soccer Team Kicks It Up, Moves Up in Poll

It hasn’t taken long for the Cal State Fullerton men’s soccer team to go from the hunter to the hunted.

The Titans started the season unranked, but gradually moved up to No. 2 in Soccer America’s national poll a week ago.

“There’s a significant amount of pressure on a team each week when it becomes that highly ranked, and our players might have felt it for the first time last weekend,” Coach Al Mistri said. “It definitely creates some distractions I wish weren’t there.”

Southern Methodist handed Fullerton its first loss of the season Friday, 3-1, in the opening game of a two-day tournament at Fresno State, but the Titans came back Sunday to defeat Fresno State, 3-0.

The loss dropped Fullerton (5-1-1) to seventh in the Soccer America rankings, and SMU went from ninth to sixth.

Mistri said his team might have “been a little flat” for the first time this season against SMU. “The margin is so thin between winning and losing when the top teams are involved,” Mistri said. “In the game against SMU, it was a matter of them being really fired up, and also them playing a little differently than we expected them to play.”

Mistri, however, was pleased that his team came back strong in Sunday’s game against Fresno. It was only Fullerton’s third victory in the last 13 games between the teams.

That victory helped to solidify Fullerton’s position as the top-rated team in the West region, although the loss cost the Titans ground in the national rankings.

Mistri expects his team to be seriously challenged this weekend when it plays San Francisco and Santa Clara in a tournament at Santa Clara. No. 16 Santa Clara will be Fullerton’s fifth ranked opponent this season.

“We really want to win this tournament,” he said. “These are the kinds of games in our area that become a factor when the NCAA establishes the tournament field. They’re both good teams that have been traditional powers in the sport.”

The Titans appear to be back in good health. Defender Al Partida and midfielder Tom Helmer returned to the lineup last weekend after recovering from injuries. Defender Demian Brown also is doing well after missing all of last season and most of 1994 with knee injuries.

Sheldon Thomas continues to lead the Titans in scoring with 15 points. Thomas, Joe DiGiamarino and goalkeeper Mike Forensich were chosen for the all-tournament team at Fresno. Forensich has a 1.19 goals-against average with 31 saves.

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The women’s soccer team (4-2) started slowly, but the Titans have had to deal with considerable adversity.

Two midfielders, Jennifer Averill and Taryn Kupper, were sidelined with season-ending injuries early. The Titans lost Averill, a transfer from Mt. San Antonio College, from the starting lineup because of a knee injury. A broken ankle sidelined Kupper, a freshman, and further reduced depth on defense.

Sweeper Michelle Rice was held out of the first three games while her academic eligibility was being confirmed. Then, after she played only two games, a broken nose put her on the bench for at least two more games.

Midfielder Vanessa Thomas missed the first two games while her academic eligibility was under review.

“We’ve had to juggle the lineup a lot, but we still think we can come back and do at least as well as we did last season,” said assistant coach Rick Garcia.

The Titans were 14-5 last season in the third year of the women’s program.

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Mike Kirby, a volunteer assistant coach on the Titans’ College World Series championship baseball team in 1995, will return in the same capacity this season.

Kirby, who coached first base in 1995, was an assistant last season at Los Angeles City College.

Dave Serrano’s appointment as a full-time assistant is awaiting final approval by university officials. Serrano, who was the pitching coach at Tennessee for the last two seasons, has been recommended for the spot on the staff that George Horton left vacant when he replaced Augie Garrido as head coach.

Serrano was an assistant under Horton when Horton was head coach at Cerritos College. Serrano, a former Cerritos pitcher, will be Horton’s pitching coach.

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The 8-3 record for the women’s volleyball team is the best start for a Titan team in 21 seasons.

The strength of the opposition picks up quickly this week, however, when Fullerton meets seventh-ranked Long Beach State Friday and 19th-ranked Pacific Saturday. Both matches are scheduled for 7 p.m. in Titan Gym.

Titan Notes

Former Titan distance runner Heather Killeen-Frisone finished 11th Sunday in the Orange County Race For The Cure 5K with a time of 17 minutes 4 seconds. She had the best time of any female runner in the 18-24 age division. . . . Heather Bassett, Heather Humphreys and Shelly Smith were named to the all-star team in last week’s women’s volleyball tournament at Kansas. Bassett has moved up to sixth on Fullerton’s list for career kills with 651 in only her second season with the Titans after transferring from San Diego Mesa College.

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Coming Attractions

Here’s a look at key games this week for Cal State Fullerton:

* Women’s volleyball at Titan Gym, Long Beach State, 7 p.m. Friday; Pacific, 7 p.m. Saturday. The Titans (8-3) are back home to open the Big West season after seven matches on the road. Fullerton was 3-1 in the Kansas tournament, defeating DePaul, Texas Pan American and Kansas and losing to Oklahoma.

* Men’s soccer, at Santa Clara tournament, Friday at 5 p.m. against San Francisco; Sunday at 2:30 p.m. against Santa Clara. The Titans are 5-1-1 and ranked seventh nationally after losing to SMU and defeating Fresno State last weekend at Fresno.

* Women’s soccer, against UC Santa Barbara at 2 p.m. Saturday at Titan Stadium. Fullerton is 4-2 after defeating Cal Poly Pomona last week.