LOS ANGELES – Cal State L.A.’s women’s soccer team, coming off the best season in the program’s history, will begin its 2010 season at Cal Baptist on Sept. 4.
The Golden Eagles will play their first three games on the road before opening the home portion of their schedule on Sept. 17 with a California Collegiate Athletic Association contest against San Francisco State.
Cal State L.A. captured its first-ever CCAA Championship in 2009 and finished with a program-best 17-3-2 record. The Golden Eagles hosted NCAA Division II playoff matches for the first time ever as well and finished with a national ranking of 14.
Cal State L.A. captured the CCAA South Division title with a 12-2-2 conference mark and then blanked Chico State, 1-0, and Cal State Dominguez Hills, 4-0, to win the CCAA Championship Tournament and its first conference title.
Cal State L.A. earned the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Division II West Region, but fell to Cal State Dominguez Hills, 2-1, in the regional semi-finals.
The Golden Eagles were making just the second NCAA Tournament appearance in the program’s history, but also the second in three years.
Cal State L.A. will have a total of nine home matches in 2010, beginning with the Sept. 17 matchup with San Francisco State that will begin at 7 p.m. All nine will be conference contests.
The Golden Eagles will face each South Division foe once at home with matches set for Friday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. against Cal State East Bay; Sunday, Oct. 10 at 2 p.m. against UC San Diego; Wednesday, Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. against Cal State Dominguez Hills; Friday, Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. against Cal State San Bernardino and Sunday, Oct. 31 at 2 p.m. against Cal Poly Pomona.
Cal State L.A. will host North Division opponents San Francisco State (Friday, Sept. 17 at 7 p.m.), Cal State Monterey Bay (Sunday, Sept. 19 at 2 p.m.), Sonoma State (Friday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m.) and Humboldt State (Sunday, Oct. 17 at 2 p.m.).
Chamides, who earned CCAA Coach of the Year honors in both women’s and men’s soccer last season, will welcome back seven starters and 14 players from last year’s team, including five who earned post-season honors.
Leading the list of returners is senior forward/midfielder Liz Franco, who became the program’s all-time leading scorer last season in her third year with the program. She was named the CCAA Offensive Player of the Year, the Daktronics West Region Player of the Year and also earned third-team NSCAA All-America honors. Franco scored 13 goals with 17 assists for a total of 43 points in 2009. Senior forward Alex Conley is back for her second year with the program after scoring 11 goals and adding six assists for 28 points. She earned All-CCAA first-team recognition and Daktronics All-West Region first-team honors. Senior Caroline Hanna is the lone defender returning after she earned All-West Region honors a year ago, while senior goalie Jessie Walworth returns after earning All-CCAA second-team honors. Sophomore forward Ann Marie Tangorra was the CCAA Co-Freshman of the Year in 2009 and received All-CCAA honorable mention. She scored 10 goals and added six assists for 26 points.
The Golden Eagles set a pair of CCAA records last season. Franco set a new standard for assists in a season with 17, breaking the old mark of 14 set by Cal State San Bernardino’s Jackie Powers in 1993. Tangorra set a new mark for consecutive goals when she scored twice in 84 seconds at Humboldt State on Oct. 9.