The CSUDH women’s soccer team didn’t have the best year. After finishing the 2023 season with an unfortunate record of 1-15-2, the Toros look to get back on track next fall – and they’ll have a brand-new coach to help them do it.
Toro Athletics announced Adriana Valdez Lopez as the team’s new head coach this past January. Valdez Lopez steps into her first head coaching position after eight seasons as the lead assistant coach of the women’s team at CSULA.
During her career as the lead assistant at CSULA, Valdez Lopez helped the Golden Eagles to land multiple NCAA Division II tournament appearances. She also led the team to a CCAA Conference Title in 2022. It’s the sort of success that Dominguez Hills is counting on from “Coach Adri” as she works to put the Toros back on the CCAA map.
“We are excited about Coach Adriana and the potential to kickstart the program back to conference and national prominence,” said Toro Athletics director Eric McCurdy in a statement posted to the department’s website on Jan. 10. “She also has a great track record of NCAA compliance and academic success as we continue to recruit student-athletes who can win on and off the pitch.”
Speaking to Toro Athletics, Valdez Lopez said Dominguez Hills “felt like home” from the moment she stepped on campus. “I was very impressed with the facilities and resources available to our student-athletes,” she told the department.
When the Toros kick off the 2024 season, Valdez Lopez will bring much-needed stability to the women’s team. The squad was without a permanent head coach for much of 2023, which arguably contributed to their unenviable record. For the Toro women to make the most out of next season, they’ll need to rely on more than just Valdez Lopez’s championship experience. They’ll need to work together on and off the field to define their identity and determine their goals as a team.
“If you have no culture, you have no team,” Valdez Lopez explained to her new team. “If our values are in line, we are going to have a positive experience. If not, we are not going to have anything.”
Freshman forward Cheyanne Henry hopes Valdez Lopez will bring a lot of structure and positive energy to the team. “I think that she is exactly what we needed coming into this upcoming season,” she said, adding that Valdez Lopez has fostered a sense of camaraderie among the players.
“She values unity and makes it known that she cares for us individually,” Henry said. “[She says] it’s not about ‘me’; it’s about ‘we’.”
Reestablishing the team’s sense of unity is key to Valdez Lopez’s plans for her first season at Dominguez Hills. She told The Bulletin that her ultimate goal in the fall will be to qualify for the CCAA tournament “just to get a little of what it feels like to be there again.” She said hopes that experience will light a fire in the players and make them hungrier for greater success. Although the Toros’ road to CCAA glory might be long, Coach Adri is confident that her new charges have the fortitude to meet and overcome any challenges – on or off the pitch.
“It’s been a while since we’ve been [to the conference tournament],” Valdez Lopez said. “Hopefully, by our second year, we are pushing for nationals.”
