Aug. 29, 2000

The 2000 men's soccer season will officially begin Friday, Sept. 1, when four of the five Pac-10 teams spring into action, marking the first year of men's soccer in the Conference. The Pac-10 will showcase some of the best soccer in the nation this year as UCLA is ranked preseason No. 3, WASHINGTON No. 12 and STANFORD No. 23 in the NSCAA Top 25 poll. Those three teams will have to compete with the much improved CALIFORNIA and OREGON STATE squads, which take on two of the nations toughest schedules.

THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE

Fri., Sept. 1OREGON STATE at Tulsa, 7:35 p.m.STANFORD vs. Xavier (1), 5 p.m.UCLA vs. Butler (2), 3 p.m.WASHINGTON at Creighton, 7:30 p.m

Sat., Sept. 2UC Santa Cruz at CALIFORNIA, 3 p.m.UCLA at Indiana, 5:30 p.m.

Sun., Sept. 3OREGON STATE vs. Oral Roberts (4), 2 p.m.STANFORD vs. W. Kentucky (1), 2 p.m.WASHINGTON vs. SW Missouri St. (3), Noon

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Mon., Aug. 21WASHINGTON 1, Seattle-Pacific 0 (Exhib.)

Wed., Aug. 23UCLA 3, Westmont 0 (Exhib.)

Fri., Aug. 25OREGON STATE 0, BYU 0 (Exhib.)

Sat., Aug. 26WASHINGTON 5, Seattle 0 (Exhib.)Loyola Marymount 2, UCLA 1 (Exhib.)

This Week's Tournaments/Neutral Sites(1) Fresno Tournament, Fresno, CA(2) Indiana Tournament, Bloomington, IN(3) Diadora Challenge, Omaha, NE(4) Tulsa, OK

TEAM NOTES

CALIFORNIA: New head coach Kevin Grimes will take over the controls for the Bears this season. Grimes, 32, comes to Cal after serving as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Southern Methodist University, for the past three seasons. During his tenure at SMU, the Mustangs recorded a 50-11-2 record and earned three NCAA Tournament bids. He will inherit a team that returns its top four scorers from a year ago. Senior Ramiro Arredondo led Cal with 18 points (eight goals and two assists), followed by sophomore Jason Thorpe (17 points, six goals, five assists), senior Kendall Simmonds (14 points, three goals, eight assists) and junior Chris Roner (10 points, three goals, four assists). The Bears will take on a difficult schedule as they play conference foes, UCLA (No. 3) and Washington (No. 12) twice, along with matches against national powers, Indiana (No. 1), Santa Clara (No. 2) and Saint Louis (No. 9).

OREGON STATE: The Beavers will look to improve on last year's 5-11 overall record as second-year head coach Dana Taylor will field a squad that features 12 freshmen and 10 sophomores. Playing time in the Oregon State backfield will be tough as returning lettermen Kevin Weisenfluh (14 starts in 1999, 10 shots) and Ryan Foster (9 shots) will battle it out at right back. The Beavers will also get help from Justin Kirk (14 starts, 4 goals, 3 assists) at the right flank position and midfielder Aaron McHardy (15 starts, 16 shots). Oregon State will play 13 of its 19 games against teams who went to the NCAA Tournament last year.

STANFORD: Head Coach Bobby Clark and the Cardinal return 16 letterwinners and eight starters from a squad that finished 12-4-3 last year en route to making its third consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament, an ongoing school record. Fifth-year senior and All-America candidate, Adam Zapala, will lead Stanford this year.

--continued next page--Zapala currently owns two career records (shutouts - 15, goals-against average - 0.69) and three single-season marks (minutes played - 2,377 in 1998, GAA - 0.57 in 1998, shutouts - 15 in 1998). His outstanding play has helped Stanford post a 22-1-3 record at New Maloney Field since its renovation in 1997, including a 7-0-1 mark at home in 1999. The Cardinal will start the season ranked No. 23 in the NSCAA Poll.

UCLA: The Bruins were picked by the coaches this year to win the first Pacific-10 Conference title and are ranked No. 3 in the NSCAA preseason poll. UCLA will return four starters that led the team to the NCAA semifinals last year. Senior midfielder Shaun Tsakiris (1st team), senior forward McKinely Tennyson, Jr. (2nd team) and senior defender Ryan Lee (2nd team) took all-conference honors in 1999. Tennyson will also try to become the second Bruin ever to win the Hermann Trophy, which is named for the nation's best soccer player. Head coach Todd Saldana, the 1999 NSCAA Far West Region Coach of the Year, will also have eight players who have earned U.S. National Team caps, along with seven others who are or have been named national team pool players. UCLA begins the season in Bloomington, Ind., where it will take on Butler and then preseason No. 1 Indiana, setting up a showdown between the same two teams that went four overtimes last season in the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.

WASHINGTON: The Huskies will start the season ranked 12th in the NSCAA Poll as it returns 18 players from a a 1999 season that saw it win 10 of its final 11 games and take the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation for the second consecutive year. Head coach Dean Wurzberger will have four seniors and six juniors returning, which should provide ample leadership for the 16 underclassmen the Huskies have on their squad. Seniors Kai Carroll, Mike Casale, Mark Hogenhout and Kris Hollingshead combined for 48 starts last year with Carroll leading the team in goals (7) and points (24) playing forward and midfield. His play helped Washington advance to the second round of the tournament last year before falling to the eventual champion Indiana.

1999 MPSF REVIEW

WASHINGTON won its third MPSF title and second consecutive, with an undefeated 7-0 regular season conference record in the Mountain Division, and then defeated Pacific Division champion No. 1 UCLA 2-1 for the title, which snapped its 14-game winning streak. Three MPSF clubs landed berths in the NCAA Tournament - STANFORD, UCLA, and WASHINGTON. At the NCAA's, UCLA advanced to the semifinals before losing to eventual national champion Indiana, 3-2, in four overtimes. Husky midfielder Wes Hart was named MPSF Mountain Division Player of the Year, while UCLA's Sasha Victorine took the honors in the Pacific Division. WASHINGTON head coach Dean Wurzberger was named MPSF Mountain Division Coach of the Year for the fourth time in eight years while leading the Huskies to their fifth NCAA Tournament under his tutelage. UCLA's Todd Saldana and UC Santa Barbara's Tim Vom Steeg were named Pacific Division co-Coaches of the Year. Both coaches were in their first year at the programs.