Stanislaus State soccer men make school history at NCAAs

It’s back to Pomona and a bit of school history for the Cal State Stanislaus men’s soccer team.

The Warriors (15-4-2), qualifiers for the NCAA Division II Championship for only the second time, will meet Cal State L.A. (12-4-2) on Thursday night at 7 p.m. at Cal Poly Pomona’s Kellogg Field.

Stanislaus was beaten at Pomona last weekend in the California Collegiate Athletic Association title match for the second year in a row. Cal State L.A., a CCAA foe, defeated Stanislaus 2-1 in overtime on Oct. 29 in Turlock.

“We would have liked to play somebody different, and if you ask L.A., they’d say the same thing,” Stanislaus coach Dana Taylor said. “But we are just thrilled to be in the NCAA tournament. It’s going to be a great match. They are a great team, and we will be ready.”

Stanislaus advanced to the NCAAs in 2012 and won its first match in Hayward over Notre Dame de Namur 3-2. The Warriors were eliminated 2-1 by Simon Fraser.

Six current Warriors were a part of that team: Josue Barajas, Gerardo Cazares, Daniel Kuczynski, Christian Madrigal, Jose Ramirez and Brady Taylor.

The winner of the first-round match will meet Pomona on Saturday night.

“For our seniors, this will be their second time in four years they are in the NCAA tournament,” Taylor said. “This is a squad that’s going to be prepared and is well-balanced. We are looking forward to the challenge.”

Pirates at home vs. Santa Rosa – The Modesto Junior College women’s soccer team (15-4-1, 9-3-1), sitting in second place in the Big 8 Conference, will finish the regular season against league champion Santa Rosa on Friday at 3 p.m. on the Pirates’ MJC West field. Santa Rosa is ranked fourth in California.

Modesto salvaged a 3-3 tie on Tuesday against Diablo Valley, thanks to a second-half goal by Madeline Adams. She had two of MJC’s three goals, and Yaritza Arista accounted for the other.

Basketball

MJC men on the road – The Pirates, 0-2 after losses to Cabrillo and Shasta at the Cabrillo Tipoff last weekend, journey to Cañada of Redwood City on Thursday night. Former Modesto Christian star Mason Washington starred with 28 points against Shasta and had 13 vs. Cabrillo. Zack Gonzales opened with 20 against Cabrillo and 13 against Shasta. Michael Hatfield scored 10 points in both games.

Pirate women at Las Positas – The MJC women, 0-2 after losses to East Los Angeles and Lassen at the Mission tournament in Santa Clara, meet Merritt on Thursday at 1 p.m. to begin the eight-team Hawk Classic at Las Positas College in Livermore. Akaysha Simpkins, a 6-foot freshman from Enochs, set a school record with 29 rebounds in the 63-48 loss to Lassen. She also scored 23 points in that game.

Volleyball

Warriors close home schedule with win – Stanislaus (15-9, 9-9), still hoping to qualify for the inaugural CCAA Tournament in La Jolla, finished its home schedule Tuesday with a 25-14, 25-23, 25-19 win over Cal State East Bay (5-22, 3-16). Jocelyn Cervantes led the Warriors with 12 kills as Stanislaus improved to 7-2 at home. Cervantes also had nine digs, two aces and two block-assists.

Stanislaus is in seventh place as it wraps up the regular season this weekend at Sonoma State and Humboldt State. Eight teams advance to the CCAA Tournament.

Cross country

Pirates eighth at NorCals – MJC, led by Harleen Pabla’s ninth-place individual finish, placed eighth at the NorCal Championship last weekend in Salinas. Pabla, a sophomore who also splits time this fall with the MJC soccer team, was timed in 19 minutes, 44.7 seconds over the three-mile course. Modesto advances to the State Championships in Fresno on Nov. 21.

This story was originally published November 11, 2015 at 10:52 PM with the headline "Stanislaus State soccer men make school history at NCAAs."