Marine Cano, head coach of the CSUDH women’s soccer team, has one thing on his mind as his squad begins the 2022 season: “Respect.” After a disappointing 5-11-1 record in the 2021 season, the team was placed at the bottom of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) standings in this year’s preseason coaches’ poll. “I was kind of mad at first,” says Cano. “But now I’m kind of happy they picked us last. It really fired us up. We’re starting the season with a big chip on our shoulders. It will be great motivation.” For his part, Cano believes that this year’s Toros can make some noise in the CCAA. “We’ve got a group of young women who want to bring some notoriety to CSUDH,” ... Read More
Athletics
Toro Men’s Soccer Ready to Take Next Step
When CSUDH men’s soccer coach Eddie Soto was hired in April 2019, it was with one goal in mind: returning the team to the heights it reached in the 2000s, when the squad won a pair of NCAA Division II national titles. Despite a 2020 season lost to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Toros are proceeding right on schedule. The 2021 team finished the season with a 10-6-1 record, including a pair of tough losses to eventual national champion Cal State Los Angeles. “For us, it was a success,” says Soto, who previously served as head coach at the University of San Francisco and assistant coach at UCLA. “We got to the semi-finals of our conference tournament, were ranked as high as number 13 in the ... Read More
CSUDH Names Dena Freeman-Patton Associate Vice President/Director of Athletics
(Carson, Ca.) Today, California State University, Dominguez Hills Vice President for Student Affairs William Franklin announced that Dena Freeman-Patton has been named Associate Vice President/Director of Athletics. She will assume her new role April 12. Freeman-Patton comes to the Cal State Dominguez Hills Toro Athletics program from the University of New Orleans, where she served as the Privateers’ deputy athletic director and chief operating officer for the last two years. Freeman-Patton is also no stranger to the California State University system, as she spent six years as CSU Bakersfield’s deputy athletics director before joining the Privateers. “I am more than enthusiastic to ... Read More
Toro Soccer Coach Eddie Soto Leads U.S. Beach Team to World Cup
Last winter, as most at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) were getting ready for finals or thinking about winter break, Toro men’s soccer Head Coach Eddie Soto was hard at work on his prestigious “side hustle”: leading the U.S. men’s beach soccer team to the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Paraguay. Soto, who was hired in April 2019 to lead CSUDH's men's soccer program, has been involved with beach soccer for over 20 years. After an All-American career at CSU Fullerton playing on traditional grass pitches, Soto was a player on the first U.S. national beach soccer team, back before it was even considered a part of the U.S. Soccer establishment. “Being from Southern ... Read More
Galaxy’s Gyasi Zardes earns college degree from Cal State Dominguez Hills
LA Galaxy forward Gyasi Zardes famously told MLS fans that his skill will blow their minds when leaving college four years ago, but on Friday he accomplished something with his own mind. The 25-year-old graduated college Friday morning, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Cal State Dominguez Hills. He attended Cal State Bakersfield for three years before leaving and signing a Homegrown Player contract prior to the 2013 season. Zardes, 25, who has appeared in six games for the Galaxy this season (starting five) was present at the morning graduation ceremony right on his home field, at StubHub Center, and picked up his diploma. He was expected to join his ... Read More
