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SANTA ANA --It looked as if it might be easy going for the Ventura County Fusion in their U.S. Open Cup opener Tuesday night after Michael Roman and Francisco Lopez provided a two-goal lead after just 22 minutes.

It was, at the finish, but getting there was anything but simple.

The Fusion scored four goals in overtime to dismiss the Fullerton Rangers, 6-2, at Santa Ana Stadium and advance to a second-round rematch with the L.A. Blues next week in Norco. The Galaxy and Chivas USA will enter the competition, in its 99th year, in the third round the following week.

It was tougher than it should have been, especially after Roman (Oxnard/Rio Mesa HS and UCLA), who stepped on the field without a practice after arriving from spring training at the University of Louisville, finished a feed from Biola University alum Kennedy Chongo in the 17th minute, and Lopez scored from Chris Tsonis' cutback five minutes later.

Fullerton, from the National Premier Soccer League, rallied to tie the score in the first 23 minutes of the second half -- netting the equalizer while down to 10 men -- but couldn't stay with the 2009 Premier Development League champion for the extra 30 minutes.

“Unfortunately, we make things harder on ourselves than they need to be,” Fusion coach Ole Mikkelsen said. “We had a comfortable 2-nil lead at halftime. If we get the next goal, for all intents and purposes, we can play the game out. But we made two silly mistakes, let them back in the game. ... Clearly, you could see in the overtime period we had the gas and they didn't have the gas.”

Fullerton dominated the start of the second half, even after Sean Toth (Fullerton College/Hope International) was dismissed with his second yellow card in the 63rd minute. By then it was 2-1 -- former Chivas USA/New York Red Bulls forward David Arvizu (Santa Ana/Foothill HS) scored in the 55th minute -- and Cuban striker Eder Roldan netted the equalizer five minutes later with a gorgeous chip into the far-post netting.

It was all Fusion the rest of the way, but they didn't get the winner until the third minute of overtime, a Lopez penalty kick after Leobardo Alvarez, who trialed with New York during MLS's preseason, fouled Chongo, who trialed with Chivas USA.

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Fullerton Rangers coach Raul Zico Ruiz expects a classic battle of opposing styles when his club takes on the Ventura County Fusion in Tuesday's opening round of the U.S. Open Cup.

Fusion coach Ole Mikkelsen doesn't know what to expect, and really doesn't care.

“At the end of the day, in the first round, you just want to play your game and get a few fortunate bounces of the ball,” he said. “I knew very little about the teams we've played in the first round the past few years, and I know very little about [Fullerton]. At the end of the day, we'll focus on the style of soccer we want play. Hopefully, it's enough to get you through.

“Last year it was. The year before it wasn't.”

The Rangers probably have the advantage at Santa Ana Stadium, owing to schedule and holdovers. They made the National Premier Soccer League playoffs last year as the Santa Ana Winds, and most of the players stuck around when the team changed sponsors -- so there's some continuity at work. They were playing Open Cup qualifiers in March and opened National Premier Soccer League play on April 7.

The Fusion, with a relatively new roster, played their first Premier Development League game last week. Many of the players who were with the team during preseason -- when they took on (and beat) Major League Soccer clubs -- are with bigger teams in more advanced leagues.

“It's a huge advantage for us,” said Ruiz, who scouted the Fusion's 1-0 PDL loss Sunday against L.A. Misioneros and says Ventura County's direct approach will contrast with the Rangers' possession-first game. “We had a couple of losses in league, but they brought the team together. We've been together now two years, and they know how each other plays and moves off the ball.”

The winner advances to a second-round game next week against the L.A. Blues, tentatively slated for Riverside Community College's Norco campus.

The Rangers are 4-2-0 in the NPSL, but both losses came when they were without midfielder leader Andre Turoldo (Torrance/North Torrance HS and Cal State Dominguez Hills) and backline anchor Leobardo Alvarez.

The Fusion (0-1-1 in the PDL) lost to the Arizona Sahuaros on penalties in the first round of the 2010 Open Cup -- they had qualified by winning the PDL title -- and last year beat Manhattan Beach's Doxa Italia in the first round and lost to the L.A. Blues in the second round.

Two more Southern California teams, both with pro talent, also play openers Tuesday. U.S. Adult Soccer Association Region IV champion PSA Elite, from Irvine, visits 2010 PDL champ Portland Timbers U-23, and Region IV runner-up Cal FC, from Thousand Oaks, plays at reigning PDL titlist Kitsap Pumas in Bremerton, Wash.

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ONTARIO -- There were lot of familiar names on the turf at Ontario Soccer Park for Sunday morning's USASA regional title game, but the biggest name of all actually wasn't anywhere nearby.

Eric Wynalda, the former U.S. national team star and a first-ballot National Soccer Hall of Fame inductee, had to follow his Cal FC team's clash with PSA Elite via constant text messaging while on the air in his main gig in West L.A., as studio analyst at Fox Soccer Channel.

The news he received wasn't good.

A missed penalty kick and a red card proved costly for Thousand Oaks-based Cal FC, which dropped a 2-0 decision to their Orange County-based foe in the U.S. Adult Soccer Association's Region IV championship.

PSA Elite, bolstered by players from Premier Development League power Orange County Blue Star, scored twice in the second half to qualify for the USASA National Cup final four July 20-22 at the Chicago Fire's Toyota Park.

The club from Irvine also got to choose its first-round opponent in the U.S. Open Cup -- well, perhaps -- and decided to play against PDL power Portland Timbers U-23 at Jeld-Wen Stadium, the Timbers' Major League Soccer team's home, in the May 15 opener. That sends Cal FC, which also qualified for the Open Cup, to play reigning PDL champion Kitsap Pumas in Bremerton, Wash.

U.S. Soccer, which runs the nearly 99-year-old tournament, has in the meantime scheduled a coin flip Monday to determine which team plays where.

Andrew Riemer scored in the 63rd minute and set up an 83rd-minute rocket by fellow Blue Star forward Christian Ramirez (Garden Grove/La Quinta HS and UC Santa Barbara/Concordia University).

“Oh, well,” Wynalda, Cal FC's head coach, messaged after he was informed of Ramirez's goal. “I have qualified [for the Open Cup]. Time to strengthen the squad.”

Both sides came in plenty capable.

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UCLA's Chandler Hoffman scored goals by the bunches on a quest to go home. Nadia Link netted nearly as many to take Long Beach State to unprecedented heights. Christian Ramirez dazzled for Concordia. And Fabiola da Silva prodded Cal Baptist to a national championship.

They're ESPN Los Angeles College Players of the Year after superb fall campaigns on local fields.

We selected men's and women's teams, one for players from 10 local NCAA Division I institutions and another for players from 24 NCAA Divisions II and III, NAIA and unaffiliated schools.

Our coaches of the year in Division I are Junior Gonzalez, who led the remarkable turnaround by UC Riverside's men, and Tim Ward, whose Pepperdine women were a top-five team during the regular season. In the lower divisions, it's Ralph Perez, who took Redlands' men to 20 wins and NCAA Division III third-round berth, and Kristen St. Clair, who presided over a superb transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II, with the Pacific West Conference title and National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association Division I national crown.

The freshmen of the year: Cal State Northridge's Edwin Rivas and UCLA's Abby Dahlkemper in D1, Cal Baptist's Michael Salazar and Cal Lutheran's Taylor Will in D2/D3/NAIA.

Here are our inaugural postseason all-star teams:

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As the college soccer season hits its stretch drive, let's take a look at some of the most dominant players in Southern California this year, no matter the division.

Here are 10 who enjoyed marvelous campaigns:

• LUIS GONZALEZ

Cal Poly Pomona
Who is he? Senior striker from Long Beach (Millikan HS), the national JC Player of the Year at Cerritos College and soon-to-be two-time All-American in two seasons with the Broncos.
What has he done? Scored 14 goals this year and 26 in two seasons at Cal Poly Pomona, winning the California Collegiate Athletic Association's Most Valuable Offensive Player award this fall.
Coachspeak: “I equate Luis Gonzalez to Magic Johnson,” Broncos coach Lance Thompson said, “and I do that because a heard a story about Magic where he was playing for his youth basketball team and they were winning and he was jumping for joy and excited and couldn't figure out why his teammates were so depressed. Well, if the team scored 70 points, he scored 68, and he learned a valuable lesson of giving and getting others involved so they could contribute, and he became one of the best assist guys ever. That's Luis. Luis takes more pride and has more joy in getting teammates involved than he does in scoring. And the more he gave, the more he received. That's what sets him apart over any other student-athlete I've coached.”

• COCO GOODSON

UC Irvine
Who is she? Senior center back from Ramona (San Diego County), a University of Texas transfer expected to repeat as a Division I All-American.
What has she done? Set the standard at the back to lead the Anteaters to back-to-back Big West Conference titles, an NCAA sweet 16 appearance last year, and a return to the NCAA tournament this fall.
Coachspeak: “Coco's unique,” Anteaters coach Scott Juniper said. “She is the strongest player that I've seen in women's soccer. She strikes a ball better than many of the male players I've worked with, and she is just a relentless competitor. She's totally unique, and there isn't another player out there like her.”

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Claremont-Mudd-Scripps did it again, prevailing at the finish against Redlands to claim the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III men's tournament.

The Stags (13-5-2), guided by original Galaxy captain Dan Calichman, outfired regular-season champion Redlands (18-3-1) in a penalty-kick shootout following a 1-1 draw on the road. It's the third straight year Claremont has beaten the Bulldogs in the SCIAC title game.

The teams traded goals 85 seconds apart midway through the second half, and Claremont stayed alive when goalkeeper Ricky Doar saved a penalty kick by Cody Carlson (Burbank/Burbank HS), after Daniel Price (Quartz Hill/Quartz Hill HS) was red-carded, with 2:40 remaining in overtime.

Matej Kustura scored for Redlands, which is No. 14 in the D3 rankings, in the 63rd minute. Eric Bean's header pulled the Stags even in the 64th.

Claremont had a 4-2 edge in the shootout, clinching when Jaison Kimura converted in the fourth couplet.

In other men's action:

• Cal Baptist (13-5-0) won a share of the Pacific West Conference title in its first season at the NCAA Division II level, clinching as Osvaldo Bastida (Anaheim/Katella HS) and Marc Hope scored second-half goals in a 3-1 victory over Dixie State (8-8-2). The Lancers, who went 10-2 to finish even with Hawaii Pacific in PacWest play, are still in their transition period and not eligible for the NCAA tournament, but they will play in the National Christian College Athletic Association tournament.
• Edgar Orozco (Santa Ana/Santa Ana HS, Corona HS and Golden West College) struck twice in the first 16 minutes and No. 13 Concordia (14-3-1) built a three-goal lead in the second half en route to a 4-2 romp over No. 10 Azusa Pacific (12-3-3) in a Golden State Athletic Conference tournament semifinal. UC Santa Barbara transfer Christian Ramirez (Garden Grove/La Quinta HS) had an assist hat trick for the Eagles, who will be home against Biola in the title game next Saturday.
• Cameroonian freshman Collins Egbe scored in the 84th minute and fifth-seeded Biola (12-5-2) topped No. 21 Fresno Pacific (12-6-0), the GSAC regular-season champ, in the tournament semifinals.

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Top-seeded Redlands and No. 2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps romped to easy victories in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's soccer tournament openers Wednesday night to set up a showdown for a berth in the NCAA Division III championship bracket.

Charles Izydorek (Redlands/Arrowhead Christian Academy) scored his 13th goals of the season just before halftime, then set up Alex Laughton as Redlands (18-3-0) pulled away to a 3-0 victory over visiting Pomona-Pitzer (10-9-0). Cody Carlson (Burbank/Burbank HS) scored his 12th for the Bulldogs, who will be home for Saturday's tournament title game.

Connor Doyle (Hidden Hills/Calabasas HS) scored twice and drew a penalty kick for a third goal to lead Claremont (13-5-1) in a 4-0 rout of Whittier (9-9-0), setting up a rematch of last year's tournament final, won by the Stags.

Redlands, ranked 15th in the Division III poll, won its second successive SCIAC regular-season title, going 12-0 in conference play with two victories over Claremont -- 3-0 at home and 3-1 away.

In other men's action:

• UC Irvine clinched a share of the Big West Conference title when Jesse Vega (Whittier/La Serna HS) quickly answered a UC Davis strike to give visiting Cal State Fullerton (7-6-5) a 1-1 draw. Dan Reese provided a 70th-minute lead for Davis (5-3-1 BWC), which would win a tiebreaker with UCI (6-3-1 BWC) for the top seed in the conference tournament if it beats UC Riverside in its regular-season finale. Vega scored less than three minutes later -- and just 48 seconds after Mark Vasquez (Fullerton/Whittier Christian HS) was red-carded, leaving the Titans a man down. Two more red cards, one for each side, were issued in overtime.

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Big West Conference rivals Cal State Northridge and UC Riverside pulled off stunning upsets Saturday night, winning on the road against Southern California's most storied programs.

The Matadors rallied for a 3-2 nonconference triumph at eighth-ranked UCLA, and Riverside beat No. 16 UC Santa Barbara -- also by a 3-2 scoreline -- for the second time this season.

Northridge (7-7-1) halted the Bruins' second five-game winning streak of the campaign. Riverside (8-5-2) handed the Gauchos their second successive Big West loss, leaving the national power in danger of missing the conference and NCAA tournaments.

In Westwood, Jose Luis Garcia (Sun Valley/Poly HS) set up goals by Brian Behrad (Woodland Hills/Taft HS) in the 83rd minute and Edwin Rivas (Los Angeles/Santee Educational Complex) in the 87th as Northridge rallied from a late deficit.

Freshman Christian Gonzalez Diaz (Mission Viejo/Mission Viejo HS) gave the Matadors a 34th-minute lead, but Chandler Hoffman netted his 12th and 13th goals of the season in the next 10 minutes to push UCLA (10-4-1) ahead.

In Santa Barbara, Cesar Diaz Pizzarro (Chino/Ayala HS) scored in the 72nd minute to lift Riverside (8-5-2), which climbed to third place in the Big West.

UC Santa Barbara (9-5-1) rallied twice from deficits, with Luis Silva (Los Angeles/Salesian HS) scoring his 10th goal of the year and setting up Sam Garza for another, but couldn't hold off the Highlanders.

Richie Osborne provided the first lead, about midway through the first half, and Jon-Paul Medina made it 2-1 in the 63rd.

In other men's action:

• Freshman Cameron Iwasa tallied three minutes into overtime to send Big West co-leader UC Irvine (13-4-0) to a 1-0 victory over Orange County rival Cal State Fullerton (7-5-3). Jimmy Turner (Mission Viejo/Mission Viejo HS) played his 76th career game for the seventh-ranked Anteaters, fifth-most in program history.

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The hottest team in So Cal college soccer?

Lots of options, in D1 (UCLA's men, Pepperdine's women), D2 (Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State L.A., both genders), D3 (Redlands' men, Cal Lutheran's women), NAIA (Concordia's men) -- even schools not affiliated with anyone (Anaheim's Bethesda Christian, at 12-1-0).

Let's also consider Cal State Northridge. Both of the Matadors' sides found their best soccer as conference play began.

CSUN's men have been outstanding since a one-win-in-six-games stretch had them 2-4-1 following a 1-0 loss Sept. 23 against powerful SMU. They've won five of six since, all by shutout, and sit second in the Big West Conference with a 3-1-0 mark heading into Saturday night's home game against UC Davis.

CSUN's women won just once in their first seven games, but they've been solid since, going 3-2-1 since Sept. 23 -- and one of those losses was in overtime against Portland. The Matadors are second in the Big West at 2-1-1 and are home Friday night against conference leader Long Beach State.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Spaniard Victor Muñoz sure makes the most of his time. The sophomore midfielder scored a goal with two assists in just 39 minutes last weekend, leading UCLA to wins at Washington at Oregon State. He did his greatest damage in just 18 minutes against the Beavers, setting up Kelyn Rowe's first-half equalizer, then scoring the winner with 30 seconds to go in regulation.

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UC Irvine netted two second-half goals to win its men's soccer showdown Saturday night at UC Santa Barbara, sending the Gauchos -- a perennial national power -- to their second loss in the young Big West Conference season.

Miguel Ibarra (Lancaster/Lancaster HS) broke a scoreless draw in the 67th minute and Lester Hayes III added a second in the 80th for the seventh-ranked Anteaters (9-2-0), who bounced back from a 1-0 loss to Cal Poly in the conference opener Wednesday.

UC Santa Barbara (6-3-1), which was upset by UC Riverside in its Big West opener, nearly scored twice in front of 5,417 fans at Harder Stadium, but Irvine goalkeeper Andrew Fontein tipped a Sam Garza blast over his crossbar in the first half, and David Opoku shot just wide in a 1-on-1 opportunity in the second half.

The loss ended UCSB's 16-game home unbeaten streak.

In other men's action:

• Carlos Benavides (Woodland Hills/El Camino Real HS) assisted goals by Yarden Azulay, Christian Gonzalez Diaz (Mission Viejo/Mission Viejo HS) and Edwin Rivas (Los Angeles/Santee Educational Complex), and Cal State Northridge (5-4-1) vaulted atop the Big West standings with its second 3-0 triumph, an upset of visiting Cal State Fullerton (6-2-2). The Matadors had a 28-14 edge in shots, and Fullerton lost star midfielder Kevin Venegas (Lakewood/Los Alamitos HS) to an 82nd-minute red card.
• Matt Weisenfarth's goal just 52 seconds into the game was enough for UC Davis in a Big West Conference victory over visiting UC Riverside (6-3-1).
• Danny Day, Gabe Ramirez (Pasadena/Crescenta Valley HS) and Charles Izydorek (Redlands/Arrowhead Christian HS) scored goals and Redlands (8-3-0) improved to 5-0-0 in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with a 3-0 victory over defending champ Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (6-3-1). The Stags outshot Redlands, 27-14, and had a 10-3 advantage on corner kicks.

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UCLA and USC are streaking, albeit in different directions, as they head into their first Pacific 12 Conference clashes this weekend.

Colorado's and Utah's addition to the old Pac 10 -- part of the megaconference movement running riot in the NCAA's Division I -- has changed the landscape in America's No. 2 college soccer conference (the Atlantic Coast remains No. 1).

UCLA (7-0-1), ranked third nationally, opens Friday night at Drake Stadium against Washington. USC (3-6-0), looking to end its second three-game losing streak of the young campaign, starts conference play Sunday at McAllister Field against Washington State. Five of the Women of Troy's losses have been by one goal.

Four Pac 12 teams are in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America's top 25: No. 1 Stanford, the Bruins, No. 17 Cal and No. 24 Oregon State. Washington State is receiving votes.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Chandler Hoffman's hat trick lifted UCLA (4-2-1) to a 3-2 comeback win over UC Santa Barbara -- and back into the NSCAA's top 25. The junior from Alabama has seven goals in his past six games.

Local conference Players of the Week:

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UCLA rallied from a second-half deficit, getting three goals from freshmen in just more than 12 minutes to overcome Loyola Marymount, 3-1, in a nonconference women's soccer showdown on the Lions' Sullivan Field.

Samantha Mewis scored two goals and Kylie McCarthy also tallied for the fourth-ranked Bruins (7-0-1), who won their fourth in a row to close out their nonconference schedule.

LMU (6-2-1) withstood heavy pressure in the first half and asserted its attack after halftime, and Tawni Martino (Irvine/Beckman HS) provided a 59th-minute lead.

It lasted all of eight minutes. Mewis, a 5-foot-11 midfielder from Massachusetts who has starred for the U.S. under-17 and under-20 teams, headed home a corner kick by Chelsea Cline in the 67th minute, and McCarthy netted the go-ahead goal in the 76th. Mewis struck again three minutes later.

In other women´s action:

• Cal Baptist won its inaugural Pacific West Conference clash, routing visiting Academy of Art, 5-0, as Amanda Lammers (Menifee/Calvary Murrieta HS) scored twice and assisted another goal. The Lancers (5-1-0), who had a 35-3 shot advantage, has won four in a row, the last three by shutout. The Riverside school, in its second year of transition from NAIA, is not eligible for the NCAA Division II tournament.
• Lauren Skachenko (Chino Hills/Ayala HS and Cal Poly Pomona) scored two goals as Costa Mesa's Vanguard improved to 6-0-0 with a 3-0 romp over previously unbeaten Bellevue (Neb.) at Menlo's tournament. The Master's, from Santa Clarita, also won in Atherton, edging Holy Names, 3-2.
• Kristen Enriquez (Alta Loma/St. Lucy's Priory HS) scored twice and assisted five goals and Megan Gonzalez (Upland/Upland HS) netted a hat trick and added an assist as Fullerton's Hope International (3-3-0) destroyed future Golden State Athletic Conference foe Arizona Christian, 13-0.

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Cal State Fullerton not so long ago was a regional power in men's soccer, with nearly annual treks to the NCAA Tournament -- including a final four appearance in 1993 and a run to the quarterfinals the following season.

It's been rough going since the Titans last made the playoffs back in 2000, with 10 successive losing seasons, but their performance last weekend at Cal State Northridge's annual event signals that a renaissance could be at hand.

Fullerton (2-0-1) set the terms with a physical game plan for a 0-0 draw against defending NCAA champion Akron, then displayed its considerable skill in a 5-1 dismantling of UNLV to win the tournament title.

Head coach Bob Ammann, a goalkeeper and assistant coach at CSUF before taking the reins following the 2005 season, has always fielded talented, competitive teams that so often controlled matches but came out one-goal losers. This year looks like it might be different -- he's got a a senior-heavy side featuring 10 returning starters, a little more grit to go with the style, and a belief that it can battle Big West Conference giants UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine.

“We're confident in where we're at,” said Ammann, who started the campaign with a 34-56-9 record. “It's a group that's been with each other for awhile now. We went through our times, obviously, and as I'm constantly preaching to them: Those are the things that grew our skin.”

The Titans were a much better team at the end of last season than they'd been most of the fall, upsetting UC Irvine in the Big West tournament semifinals to highlight a 7-12-2 campaign.

Ammann's core group features five seniors: All-Big West first-team forward Nick Posthuma (Pasadena/St. Francis HS) and midfielder Kevin Venegas (Lakewood/Los Alamitos HS) and honorable mention goalkeeper Trevor Whiddon, plus midfielders Oscar Aguero (Anaheim/Katella HS) and Michael Denny. Posthuma led the Titans with nine goals last year; Venegas was the top player at CSUN's tournament.

Also making imprints are juniors Jonathan Birt (Santa Ana/Calvary Chapel HS), the lone returning starter on the backline, and Jesse Escalante (Placentia/Valencia HS), a rising forward first seen in one of Ammann's youth camps.

The Titans' approach -- ball on the ground, keep possession -- and flair required to follow it have impressed opponents all along, but defensive liabilities have hurt. The addition of Englishman Roberto Vernaschi, who transferred from Delaware -- aided by the returns of Mario Alvarez and Bobby Reiss (Palmdale/Quartz Hill HS) after missing last season through injury -- has added steel to Fullerton's game.

“He's got that kind of bad-boy mentality,” Ammann said. “He's got that 'I'm not afraid to tell you what I'm going to do to you.' That's something we've lacked, and the other players are feeding off that.”

That was apparent against Akron. The Titans' physical game plan neutralized the Zips, and Fullerton had the better scoring opportunities if less of the game.

“I thought their spirit was good,” said Akron coach Caleb Porter, whose team dropped from second to fourth in the NSCAA rankings this week. “I really liked their energy and their attitude and their edge. They have a chip on their shoulder, and they showed that against us, and that was good for our guys to see -- these teams weren't intimidated by Akron. These teams play the UCLAs and UC Santa Barbaras, so playing us isn't going to intimidate them.”

Ammann credits depth -- “Now we can bring in guys, and we really don't drop the standard,” he says -- and the ability to play both ways.

“We've always been able to score and create, but we've leaked too many goals,” he said. “We're really limiting the opportunities of our opponents. This is ultimately going to be the difference. I believe we can score, and as long as we defend and we gain that confidence that we can lock the game down and finish it when we do score, we've got some potential.”

Fullerton, which plays this weekend at UNLV's tournament, was third in the Big West coaches preseason pool, behind UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly but ahead of UC Irvine, which is ranked ninth in the nation. The NCAA tournament is within reach.

“That's something we've been talking about for awhile,” Ammann said. “This is definitely the team with the progress. The guys who are seniors now are the first group to come freshman through. And that pays big dividends in college soccer.”

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UC Santa Barbara transfer Christian Ramirez scored his sixth and seventh goals of the weekend to lead Concordia University in a 5-1 NAIA romp Monday over Rancho Palos Verdes' Marymount College in Irvine.

Ramirez (Garden Grove/La Quinta), who has eight goals in four games, set a school record with five goals, along with two assists, in Friday's 10-0 rout of William Jessup. He also scored in a 1-0 victory last weekend at Embry-Riddle (Ariz.)

The former youth-soccer star -- a Cal South Player of the Year and ODP Region IV captain who played for Irvine Strikers, Pateadores and San Diego Surf -- scored one goal in 24 games over two seasons at UCSB before arriving at Concordia this summer.

Concordia is 3-1-0. Marymount, after three losses to teams from the powerhouse Golden State Athletic Conference, is 1-3-0.

In other men's action:

• Marco Ruvalcaba (La Mirada/La Mirada HS) scored two goals and assisted a third as Biola (3-0-0) crunched visiting Whittier, 4-0.
• Oktay Bulut scored twice to lead Azusa Pacific (3-1-0) a 3-1 victory over Rocky Mountain (Mont.) at conference rival Westmont's tournament in Santa Barbara.

In women's action:

• Azusa Pacific (3-0-1), ranked second in NAIA (but with a victory over No. 1 Lee), was held to a 0-0 draw at NCAA Division III Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (0-0-2).
• Concordia (Ore.), the No. 3 NAIA team, beat No. 9 The Master's (3-2-0) as Alex Thomas and Alex Blalock scored goals.
• Kate Lilly twice gave Chapman (0-1-1) leads, but Melanie Gaither answered both as George Fox claimed a 2-2 draw in Orange.

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