By Victor Munoz
Staff Writer
The CSUDH men’s soccer team will have a far different face than the team that won the California College Athletic Association conference championship: 24 of them, in fact. That’s the number of newcomers to this season’s roster, which includes nine freshmen.
But perhaps the most important newcomer to the squad isn’t among those 24. It’s their new head coach, former CSUDH All-American Sean Lockhart, who was named interim head coach in March and who will helm the team this season.
Due to the influx of new talent, and that only eight players from last season return, Lockhart realizes that most onlookers will think the team’s fortunes will dip this season, as suggested by the poll of league coaches that picked CSUDH to finish seventh.
But Lockhart said that while others may think that, his team will not.
“People might see us in a down year, but we can’t think that at all,” said Lockhart, who played on CSUDH’s national championship-winning squad in 2000 and whose name is all over the university’s men’s soccer record book. “We are thinking about going out, winning games and shooting every game like a cup final.”
Among the key departures are Adam Vargas, last season’s top goal scorer, who transferred to San Diego State University, and Leonardo Nogueira, who led the team in assists and was the conference’s second-best assister, who transferred to archrival Cal State LA.
Their absence could be buoyed by transfers Stefan Skrinjaric (College of Southern Nevada), who recorded six goals and seven assists as a sophomore, Joshua Varon (De Anza College) a product from Portland Timbers Academy, Julian Guerrero (Long Beach City College) who was all-conference at that school, and freshmen Musa Ali and Robert Rivera.
Lockhart said the team strengths are a great deal of soccer-savvy, technical players, such as excellent footwork that allows them to work in tight areas and be creative about solving a problem. But the team’s biggest challenge, he said, with the incoming freshman and transfers is the lack of college experience and unfamiliarity with other players.
To build up that familiarity, Lockhart says it is important that newcomers begin not only understanding the soccer program, but also the university environment. As a way to help initiate that, the first week of the season, alumni visited men’s soccer team. The activity was for the alumni to see what the program has turned in to and for the current players to see what was laid before them.
“I wanted the players to own in and really understand its more than just playing a match, said Lockhart. “It’s about family and community.”
The Toro’s top competition in the conference, Lockhart said, are California State University, Los Angeles and Cal Poly Pomona, but he doesn’t expect one easy game in league action.
“The CCAA is just a tough conference where all the teams are performing at {a high] level,” he said. “There is no game where you could say, ‘oh we got this. This is a cake walk.’”
Photo Courtesy of the CSUDH Athletics Department
