November 19, 2005

Box Score

Durango, CO -- Cal State Dominguez Hills senior Francisco Corona (Paramount, CA/LA Harbor JC) tapped in the final goal of his career at 86:19, but undefeated and top-ranked Fort Lewis College received huge games from its top two goal scorers to take a 3-2 win in the NCAA DII Quarterfinals, improving its record to 20-0-1 and moving onto the Final Four beginning December 2. The Toros, the Far West Region Champions, end their season at 17-5-2.

The host Skyhawks struck first at the 11:23 mark as John Cunliffe blasted his shot inside the far post to give Fort Lewis a quick 1-0 edge. After the score, however, the Toros mounted their own offensive pressure to take control of the rest of the 45-minute session, benefiting from their midfielders' stellar play. That pressure would pay dividends at 22:41 when Sammy Rivas (Long Beach, CA/CS Fullerton) took a cross from Kei Kamara (Lawndale, CA/Leuzinger HS) and chipped his ball over Skyhawk goalkeep Nick Clark for a 1-1 tie.

The first 45-minute session looked to remain knotted at 1-1 heading into intermission until the 42:23 mark, when Greg Quinones (Lakewood, CA/Yavapai CC) was issued a yellow card for tackling Fort Lewis' leading goal scorer, Cole Sweetser, inside the box, resulting in Sweetser's 25th goal of the season right before the half.

After intermission, however, the Toros continued to mount pressure on the FLC defense, eventually outshooting the Skyhawks 10-5 in the frame. The Toros had a golden opportunity to knot the game nearly 11 minutes into the second half, but an attempted clear off the foot of a Skyhawk defender deep inside their box hit off the post, and richocheted out of the FLC zone.

FLC would take advantage just two minutes later as Sweetser struck again, scoring on a give-and-go with Casey Roberts deep in the Toro box for his second goal of the game.

The Toros would not go quietly, however, as Corona's tap-in after a scramble at 86:19 would cut the deficit to one. Substituting to save valuable seconds on the clock, CSUDH attempted consecutive corner kicks as time wound down, but was unable to find the back of the net. As the final 10 seconds began to wind down and stopped at 1.3 seconds, fans started making their way to the field, with time still left on the clock. After a few moments, the clock then changed to 0.00, which signified the official end of the contest.

CSUDH outshot the Skyhawks 14-12, and held a decisive 9-1 advantage in corners, while Toro goalkeep Kyle Polak (Huntington Beach, CA/CS Fullerton) notched seven saves compared to four by FLC's Clark. A physical contest, the two teams combined for 45 fouls, four yellow cards and one red card.

"I thought it was a well-played game and that both teams played hard," begins CSUDH head coach Joe Flanagan. "We did have the better play in the second half and I think we would have been in good shape going into the second half with the wind at our backs had not the PK occurred. Fort Lewis is a good team, though, and I think they played well and left it on the field."

This marks the final game for four seniors, who donned the Cardinal & Gold for the final time. Although each made his own mark on the program, the only four-year senior in the program stands out.

"JT is the epitome of Dominguez Hills," Flanagan says of Jaret Minami. "He always gives his best, and works hard. He's just a class individual and we feel privileged to have someone like him on the team.

"We lose four guys next year, but we already have four guys who are redshirting who can do some good things," projects Flanagan. "In reality we were kind of a young team this year and I didn't know what to expect. But getting out of the Far West Region and having the younger guys experience this is going to make us better for the next couple of years."

The Toros, who won their first playoff game in three seasons with a 2-1 overtime victory over No. 5 Seattle Pacific in the Far West Championship game on November 14, end their season at 17-5-2, and will return seven starters and their All-CCAA goalkeeper in 2006.