Soccer Team Hopes to Avoid Selection Panel

Cal State Fullerton Coach Al Mistri doesn’t want to leave anything to chance this season.

Mistri hopes he won’t have to rely on the NCAA selection committee to give his men’s soccer team an at-large bid into the playoffs. He has his sights set on the automatic bid that goes to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation champion.

“That way we know we’ll be in,” Mistri said.

But Mistri expects a big challenge, even though the Titans have a 6-2-1 record and are No. 11 in this week’s Soccer America poll.

Fullerton plays its opening game in the conference’s Pacific Division Friday night at UC Irvine. Fullerton’s other conference games are against UC Santa Barbara, Cal State Northridge, UCLA and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, but even if Fullerton wins its division, the Titans would need a victory over the other division winner for the automatic bid.

Washington and California are regarded as the top teams in the Mountain Division, and Washington has taken over the No. 1 ranking in the region from Fullerton in the coaches’ poll.

“One thing for sure is that the region is very strong this season,” Mistri said. “Look at the results so far, and just about all our losses have been against each other.”

Fullerton had mixed results last weekend in the Santa Clara tournament. The Titans were upset by San Francisco, 2-0, Friday, but came back to defeat 16th-ranked Santa Clara, 3-2, Sunday in overtime. San Francisco had won only twice in seven games going into the game with Fullerton.

But Mistri believes his team has done well, considering that six of its last seven games have been on the road and five of nine this season have been against teams ranked in the top 20.

“And we’ve been able to do it without some of our top people playing regularly,” Mistri said.

Defender Demian Brown, who has struggled with knee injuries for two seasons, probably is out for the rest of the season after more knee problems. “I think he’s played his last game for us,” Mistri said.

Top defender Alfred Partida has been injured for several games, and was back on the bench Sunday with ankle problems after playing only 18 minutes Friday.

The Titans also had to play Sunday without standout midfielder Joe DiGiamarino, their second-leading scorer. He picked up a red card in the loss to San Francisco, keeping him out for one game.

Sheldon Thomas, a junior transfer from El Camino College, continues as a team leader. Thomas leads the Titans in scoring with 20 points, 11th in the nation. He also leads the team in goals with eight.

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Dave Serrano, named an assistant baseball coach last week, believes John Alkire, a transfer from Tennessee, will help strengthen the Titan pitching staff.

Serrano worked with Alkire, a right-hander, for the last two seasons when he was pitching coach for the Vols.

“I think he’ll be a good addition to the program,” Serrano said. “He’s capable of being very good, but he was inconsistent last season at Tennessee. We used him in a lot of different roles, from starting to short relief, and I think that might have kept him from getting any momentum last season.”

Alkire was 7-2 with a 3.97 earned-run average as a freshman and 6-4 with 4.50 ERA last season.

The Titans begin fall workouts Monday, and rebuilding the pitching staff will be a key to the coming season. Scott Hild is the only starter returning from a year ago.

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Sarah MacDougall finished second in the women’s competition in Saturday’s four-team cross-country meet at UC Santa Barbara in which UC Irvine and Long Beach State also competed along with the Titans.

Coach John Elders was encouraged by her performance.

“She did well, but we know she’s still not running at the level she’s capable of,” Elders said. “She’s been putting in some heavy miles, around 60 a week, and we’ll start cutting that back soon. After that, she should do even better. She’s running respectably even though she hasn’t been that fresh.”

The women’s team was third, but three of the team’s top seven runners were held out of the meet because of injuries or illness.

The men’s team was last.

“We’re not getting a good pack time right now,” Elders said. “Stuart Gonzalez is solid in our No. 1 spot, but there was a 30-second difference between him and our No. 2 runner. We should be able to have 30 seconds between our first and fifth runner.”

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Freshman basketball player Dane Plock, who played at Estancia High, had ankle surgery recently and probably will miss the early stages of preseason practice that starts Oct. 15.

“He had some bone chips in his ankle from an old injury, which have been aggravating him,” Coach Bob Hawking said. “The doctors decided it should be taken care of now.”

The Titans play the first of two exhibition games in Titan Gym Nov. 4 against High 5 America.

Titan Notes

A Titan alumni softball game and barbecue is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Oct. 19 at the Titan Softball Complex. Coach Judi Garman is hoping to have as many former players as possible return for the event. . . . The 10th Jerry Goodwin golf tournament that raises funds for Titan athletics is scheduled for Monday at Yorba Linda Country Club. . . . Jeff Cova has joined the Titan athletic department as a marketing specialist. Cova, who is from Irvine, was a marketing assistant at Fresno State before joining the Fullerton staff this week. He replaces Jeff Poltorak, who resigned to take a job with the Long Beach Ice Dogs. . . . Amber Escobedo scored three goals in two weekend women’s soccer games, including the game-winner against Cal State Northridge. She was chosen Big West player of the week.

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Coming Attractions

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

* Men’s soccer at UC Irvine Friday at 7 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. at Titan Stadium against Loyola Marymount. The Titans are 6-2-1 and ranked 11th in the nation after losing to San Francisco and defeating Santa Clara last weekend.

* Women’s soccer at UCLA tonight at 7:30 and Saturday at 7 p.m. at Titan Stadium against Pepperdine. Fullerton is 6-2 after victories over Cal State Northridge and UC Santa Barbara last weekend.