Squad looks to veteran leadership, work ethic as No. 2 seed in NCAA Div. II bracket.
For the second consecutive year, the Toro men’s soccer team clinched the CCAA Regular Season Championship, becoming only the second program in three decades to accomplish back-to-back titles. But their postseason took an early hit on Nov. 14, when the Toros fell 2–3 to Cal State San Marcos in the CCAA Tournament semifinals.
The loss, however, doesn’t overshadow what has been one of the program’s most notable seasons. With a 12-3-4 record, 10 shutouts and one of the conference’s strongest defensive units, the Toros now shift their focus to the NCAA Division II Tournament, beginning Nov. 20, aiming to carry the momentum that propelled them to consecutive regular-season championships.
Men’s coach Edwin Soto aimed to build a program that could compete for titles consistently rather than make just one championship run. He told The Bulletin the team has worked “very, very hard” for years to achieve its current success.
“This has been a body of work. The staff and I have sacrificed a lot of time away from our families and really committed to bringing some consistency to our programs,” Soto said. “But we also have a high standard, and we’re looking to do more than just a conference championship.”
Last year’s championship team was known for its explosive offense. This season, the team reversed the script, anchoring its success in a disciplined, resilient back line.
Senior right back Kenny Lee believes the group’s chemistry has made all the difference this season. It’s not just talent, Lee told The Bulletin, but the experience and bond the team has built that strengthens the defensive line every time they step onto the field.
“I think a lot of it helps that the guys who play back there have been here for a long time,” Lee said. “I think just, like, chemistry and continuity is important in an attacking sense, it’s also really important in a defensive sense. I think that’s what makes our defensive unit so successful is just that everybody back there lives and breathes defending.”
Senior midfielder and team captain Ramiro Rosas said the team’s structure and game planning have been central to its success. Rosas said the coaching staff “deserve a lot of credit” for the gameday strategies they’ve developed for the squad.
“The way they plan games, the way they strategize how we’re going to go out on a game,” Rosas said. “They’re putting out who’s on that starting field and the subs, that make a difference. The defense has been pinpoint.”
For the players, repeating was anything but easy. This year’s title race came down to the wire, with Stanislaus State pushing the Toros to their limits. When the Toros defeated Stanislaus State—ranked No. 1 in Division II by a United Soccer Coaches poll—it became the moment that validated the team’s belief in its ability to compete with the best.
Rosas said facing the nation’s top-ranked team in their own conference was a rare opportunity and one the Toros had been eager for.
“It was a game we were looking forward to and just another way to prove our point again and who we are,” he said. “There was never a doubt that we’re going to go into that game to lose, so I’m proud of the group.”
Soto points to the coaching staff as the driving force behind the team’s commitment to success. He said the staff leads by example, creating a work ethic that spreads through the roster. That same standard carries over to the team and its leaders, who embody and reinforce the expectations set by the staff.
“We have three captains with Ramiro Rosas, we have Ndifor [Ginyui], and we have Alpha [Sowe],” Soto said. “These are three individuals who have the experience not just of [the team’s] demands every day, [but] the success, the failure, and everything in between.”
Sowe, a senior defender, told The Bulletin there’s no substitute for hard work.
“It’s all about hard work on and off the field because everybody’s ready to do the work,” said Sowe, who returned to Toros Athletics for his final season after a stint at Cal State Fullerton. “You can’t put one foot in and one foot out. You got to be both feet in.”
Rosas echoed Sowe, saying the team’s bond and willingness to sacrifice for one another off the field is what strengthens their performance on it.
“I’m a firm believer that if a team could get along off the field, it’s only going to translate even more in the field, and I think it’s shown,” said Rosas. “We consider ourselves a family, so that helps a lot. Just sacrificing for each other because at the end of the day, we’re at war for one another.”
The Toros now turn their attention to the NCAA Division II Tournament, where they have secured the No. 2 seed. The Toros will open their NCAA Tournament run against the winner of the matchup between No. 7 Cal State LA and No. 10 University of Colorado Colorado Springs.
After falling in the CCAA semifinals, the team sees the national postseason as a chance to reset and prove the consistency that carried them to back-to-back regular-season titles.
“I was fortunate enough that my freshman year at Dominguez Hills, we had sort of a similar season. That sort of shaped my view of college soccer,” said Lee. “Now I get to leave that legacy for the freshmen and new people to the program, and hopefully leave behind that same belief. I’m just glad that my last season was successful, but more glad that their first season and introduction to Dominguez and the CCAA is a positive one.”
Soto said developing the program’s younger players is central to the culture he set out to build.
“We just really, really bring a professional approach to our program. When players are here and entrenched in it, they understand that there’s a standard. They understand that we don’t tolerate complacency,” Soto said. “We keep pushing the guys every day on the fundamentals and within our system, just kind of playing within strains and avoiding weaknesses.”