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Toros Soccer Teams Earn NSCAA Top 10 Preseason Rankings

Keepers Markus Dickerson (L) and Alyssa Congdon both play key roles for the No. 6 and no. 4 ranked CSUDH men's and women's soccer teams
KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Nearly nine months removed from the women's soccer team reaching the NCAA Title game and the men's squad making its second-consecutive appearance in the NCAA quarterfinals, both squads have been recognized by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) with Top 10 preseason rankings entering the 2010 season.

The No. 4 ranked women's squad leads three CCAA teams that made the preseason top 25, followed by defending CCAA Champion Cal State L.A. at No. 14 and perennial power UC San Diego at No. 20. 

The Toros welcome back all 11 starters from last year's national runner-up squad, including All-Americans in junior forward Jessica Murphy and junior defender Paige Peel.

Murphy, a four-time All-Region honoree, concluded 2009 second in the CCAA with 36 points after scoring a conference-high 15 goals and 6 assists, while Peel, a two-time All-Region selection, anchored the Toro backline, helping account for 10 shutouts and 10 games with just one goal allowed.

Grand Valley State, which bested CSUDH 1-0 in the title game, enters 2010 as the top-ranked team, with West Florida, over whom the Toros advanced in the national semifinal, checking in at No. 2.  St. Rose, which fell in overtime to GVSU in the other national semifinal, begins 2010 as the No. 3 ranked team in the nation.  The 2008 NCAA Champion Seattle Pacific Falcons are the only other West Region team to make the top 25, checking in at No. 17.

The Toro men, fresh of back-to-back NCAA quarterfinal appearances and the 2009 CCAA Championship, begin 2010 as the No. 6 team in the nation, and lead four CCAA schools selected in the preseason top 25 including No. 12 Cal State L.A., No. 22 Sonoma State and No. 25 CS San Bernardino.

CSUDH graduated two-time NSCAA Player of the Year and six-time All-American Kevin Gallaugher along with two-time All-American midfielder Andrew Marinez, but returns CCAA Newcomer of the Year and two-time All-Region keeper Markus Dickerson, who led the league in GAA and shutouts as a redshirt freshman.

Fort Lewis, which defeated CSUDH in the quarterfinals en route to the 2009 NCAA Title, enters as the top-ranked team in the nation, and is followed by Lees-McRae, Lewis, LeMoyne and Tampa.

The 2010 season kicks off for both teams at home on Thursday, September 2, against NAIA Concordia (CA), with the men beginning at 4:30 pm, followed by the women's squad at 7:00 pm at Toro Stadium, on the Track & Field Facility at the Home Depot Center.
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