It isn’t hyperbole to call new Westcliff men’s soccer head coach Randy Dodge a Southern California soccer coaching legend.
His resumé is undeniable.
Dodge started his Hall of Fame coaching career at Vanguard University while still a student and playing for the Lions’ men’s team. After assisting at UC Irvine for three years, he took over as Director of Soccer for both the men’s and women’s teams at Vanguard in 2002.
During that time, he was named the Golden State Athletic Conference Coach of the Year eight times.
In 2021, Westcliff men’s soccer was a first-year program that beat everyone’s expectations to reach the Cal Pac semifinals.
But that team was loaded with seniors, and even though it was an unknown, that team should have been as good as it was.
2022 was different.
The California Pacific Conference Men’s Soccer Championships resume Thursday at La Sierra, and No. 3 Westcliff is set to square off with No. 2 UC Merced at 2:30 p.m. in Riverside.
Saturday night at Great Park Championship Stadium, the Westcliff men’s soccer team took care of business with a workmanlike 3-0 win over Benedictine Mesa in the first round of the Cal Pac Championship Tournament.
Coming into the 2022, the question surrounding Westcliff men’s soccer would be how the young group, after losing so much senior talent from last year’s team, would respond.
A year ago, Westcliff earned the No. 3 seed in the Cal Pac tournament, its first postseason bid in program history.
After the Warriors bowed out of the tournament, captain Karam Idris urged the underclassman to continue the winning tradition his class had placed as a foundation.
One year later, after dismantling Providence Christian, 10-1, on the final eve of the regular season, the Warriors can do no worse than the No. 3 seed in the Cal Pac tournament, and if a miracle happens Saturday and Maritime pops UC Merced, they will be No. 2.
Either way, the Warriors find themselves facing the same opportunity they did a year ago.
For the second straight season, and for the second time in its brief two-year history of associated play, the Westcliff men’s soccer team is headed to the playoffs.
Not only did Westcliff clinch the postseason with a 2-1 win at Park-Gilbert Thursday, the Warriors also put themselves in position to win the Cal Pac outright.
Mighty Mo is starting to stir.
The Westcliff men’s soccer team picked up a fantastic 3-0 win over Simpson Sunday at Championship Stadium, where the soccer program celebrated its annual “Think Pink” Day to promote cancer awareness.
Karam Idris knows a thing or two about Westcliff Soccer.
A year ago, Idris — the Warriors’ captain — turned in an unforgettable season.
The Team’s Offensive Player of the Year led the Cal Pac in assists (12) and led Westcliff to the first team playoff appearance in the history of the university.
During those playoffs, Idris was the first Warrior in history to score a postseason goal, which led to the first postseason victory in Westcliff history.
In the spring, Idris walked with his classmates during graduation, having earned his bachelor’s degree, completing his Westcliff journey.
Or so we thought.
The Westcliff men’s soccer team left Las Lomas Park Friday night with a bad taste in its mouth.
Coming off a last-minute loss to UC Merced, head coach Tom Lancaster told his Warriors to flush the loss and get mentally prepared for another tough Cal Pac foe in La Sierra.
They listened.
Sunday night, back home in front of a packed berm at the Great Park, Westcliff put on a show, taking down the Golden Eagles, 2-0.
Much of Friday’s match between Westcliff and UC Merced went as expected.
It was a hard-fought, tightly-contested affair that could have gone either way.
The match was steamrolling toward a scoreless tie, then a double-yellow ejection of Lucas Tura left the Warriors down a player with 10 minutes left.
Five minutes later, UC Merced slow-rolled a goal past a flummoxed Warrior defense and walked away with a 1-0 win.
Another year, another deadlock with Arizona Christian.
The annual even went down Thursday night at Championship Stadium, where the Westcliff men’s soccer team played 90 scoreless minutes with the Firestorm.
Soccer is a crazy sport.
Sometimes you earn a win, but walk away with a loss.
That was the tale of the tape for the Westcliff men’s soccer team Saturday night at Dan Lebard Stadium at Orange Coast College, where the Warriors fell 1-0 to nationally-ranked OUAZ on a breakaway goal scored with seven seconds left.
A year ago, the Westcliff men’s soccer team turned in an unprecedented season in school history.
It was the first Warrior team to reach the postseason and the first to bring home a postseason win.
Quentin Hornung, after tearing through the Cal Pac with ridiculous numbers, became Westcliff’s first All American.
Hornung was named the Cal Pac’s best player, and Jakob Shnitzler was named its best defender.
But after a disappointing 2-0 loss to Marymount California in the Cal Pac tournament semifinals, many around the program couldn’t help but feel the season ended too soon.
A year later, much has changed.
Warriors Land a Legend: Randy Dodge to Head Men’s Soccer
January 12, 2023It isn’t hyperbole to call new Westcliff men’s soccer head coach Randy Dodge a Southern California soccer coaching legend. His resumé is undeniable. Dodge started his Hall of Fame coaching career at Vanguard University while still a student and playing for the Lions’ men’s team. After assisting at UC Irvine for three years, he took over as Director of Soccer for both the men’s and women’s teams at Vanguard in 2002. During that time, he was named the Golden State Athletic Conference Coach of the Year eight times.
