Seniors Lead Bakersfield to Title

Every coach who ever said “experience counts” can point to the Cal State Bakersfield men’s soccer team as a great example.

Bakersfield won the NCAA Division II championship with eight seniors leading the way.

“This is what we’ve been working toward for four years,” senior forward Ben Mains said. “It’s a dream come true. Our goal was the national championship, and it’s great to win it as a senior.”

Mains scored the only goal in a 1-0 victory over Lynn University at Boca Raton, Fla., on Dec. 7.

Junior goalkeeper Brandon Hearron and senior defenders Russ Miller, Tomas Frodis and Trenton Yenokida did not allow Lynn or semifinal opponent Truman State to score. Hearron had three saves in the final.

“Coach [Simon Tobin] gave us our assignments and told us to mark their forwards off the ball. We wanted them to know that on 50-50 balls we were going to go after them hard,” Miller said.

Said Tobin: “This was our time. Lynn will be back here soon. They have a young team. We had [eight] seniors and I think it made the difference--they did not want to lose their last game.”

Along with Mains, Miller, Frodis and Yenokida, it was the last game for Shane Huff, Kris Larsen, Joe Munoz and Kavan Howell.

Two days after the victory, Munoz was selected a first-team All-American by the National Soccer Coaches Assn. for the second consecutive year.

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The Cal State Dominguez Hills women’s soccer team hosted the Division II final four but lost in the semifinals, 4-3 in overtime, to Franklin Pierce on Dec. 6.

Franklin Pierce then beat Virginia Wesleyan, 3-0, to win its fourth consecutive title and cap a 21-0 season. Franklin Pierce, of Rindge, N.H., is 78-1 over the last four seasons.

Dominguez Hills senior Heather Rolland tied a tournament record by scoring all three goals against Franklin Pierce. Franklin Pierce’s Paulina Miettinen also scored three goals in a game during a previous Division II tournament.

Rolland, a second-team All-American, set school records with 24 goals and 55 points this season and has led Division II the last two seasons with a total of 102 points (44 goals and 14 assists).

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It appears the Bakersfield men’s basketball program will continue the success it had under Pat Douglass, now at UC Irvine, with Henry Clark running the team.

Douglass led Bakersfield to three national championships, and Clark was his top recruiter.

The Roadrunners are 10-0 and ranked No. 1 in the nation.

A recent 18-point victory over offensive power Central Oklahoma has given the team confidence early in this transition season.

Point guard Marcus Moss is averaging 17 points and 5.3 assists. The other four starters each average double figures in points and more than five rebounds.

Moss has replaced Charles Woolfolk in the starting lineup, but Woolfolk’s numbers are up in every meaningful category: minutes (22.3 from 21.8 last season), points (9.3 from 5.6), assists (2.9 from 2.1) and rebounds (3.3 from 2.4).

College Division Notes

All funds generated from the Dec. 12 women’s basketball game between Biola and Cal Poly Pomona at Darlene May Gymnasium on Cal Poly Pomona’s campus were donated to the Darlene May Scholarship. The scholarship is given to a Cal Poly Pomona player for contributions to the team and the university. Jessica Eggleston, a senior averaging 20 points, was the first winner. She will attend law school after the winter quarter. May, who died of cancer in November of 1996, is the winningest Division II women’s basketball coach. Cal Poly Pomona won, 73-60.