Respected Now, Cano Wants Another Winner : Soccer: The CSDH women’s team hopes this year won’t be the last it reaches the NCAA final four. Next time, it plans to do even better.

Gaining respect is what Cal State Dominguez Hills women’s soccer Coach Marine Cano says he has done by taking his team to its first final-four NCAA berth.

“It was a great experience in terms of education,” Cano said. “We were one of the four best teams in the country, and we got a chance to play against the other three.

“It was also a thrill to represent the West Region, which I think is the best area for soccer in the country.”

Going to the final four is only for the very few, and Cano said he is happy he got his chance. “I’m more possessed now than I’ve ever been to win a national championship,” he said.

The Lady Toros lost a 1-0 heartbreaker to Keene State of New Hampshire in the first round of play. The loss left the Toros 18-3 overall for the season and dropped them from No. 2 to No. 3 in the nation in the final season rankings.

“I’m going to be real bitter about this loss for the next few months but I hope that when I look back on it I will be able to think of this experience as a learning one,” Cano said.

“We played really well in that game, but Keene State had the best game of their season. We had the opportunities but we just didn’t put the ball into the goal.”

The main problem, Cano said, was that the Toros played well and needed to play better than well. He is confidently looking for this to be the first of many trips to the final four.

The toughest part of the season for Cano is the loss of six seniors, including the Lady Toros’ career scoring leader, Kristi White. But Cano hopes that White’s graduation will not mean a drop in the standings and that he will be able to recruit players to fill her place.

White, a 5-foot-4 senior forward, had 33 goals and 31 assists over her career. This year was her best: 17 goals and 16 assists for a total of 50 points.

Cano said he is trying to make sure that White is selected for the national team.

“It would be a crime if she didn’t make it onto the national team,” he said. “If there were a better player to come along than Kristi White, she would break all of the records. There just isn’t a better player right now than Kristi.”

Chris Pezzulo, a 5-foot-4 junior goalkeeper, played in all 21 games and accounted for 15 shutouts. She held the opposition to 0.56 goals per game.

“With just a little bit of conditioning and training, Chris is really going to be the best goalkeeper in the country,” Cano said.

Midfielder Jenny Grasso is Cano’s pick for team leader next year. The 5-foot-3 freshman had four goals and three assists in her first season.

“Grasso carried the load midfield so that White could go forward,” the coach said. “Without her, there was no way that White could have had as many goals as she did.”

Cano is ready to hit the pavement for new recruits. He is looking for eight freshmen and several community college transfers to add stability.

“There are a lot of good players out there, and now they should be willing to come to Dominguez Hills,” he said. “We’ve got a good program, and the players know that. Now if we can only get the money we need to get those players.

“Soccer is what is going to put Cal State Dominguez Hills on the map. If there was a proclaimed ambassador for Dominguez Hills, it would have to be the men’s and women’s soccer program. The proof is how many times we’re in the paper and how well people know about us.”

Cano concedes that it is going to take a lot of hard work to rebuild a team that is losing so much talent, but he thinks the players are up to it.

“There’s more pressure on the team and me to continue to do well, but I’m not too worried about it,” he said. “I’ve been coaching both the men’s and women’s teams here for years. I know about pressure.”

Building a team from nothing to a berth in the final four has been a tough job, Cano said, but every year the program has gotten better.

“The most amazing thing about the team,” he said, “is that they were the players that no one else really wanted, and they went to final four.”