National Titles Cap a Stellar Season at UCSD

Saturday was a big day for the UC San Diego athletic program, with the school winning two national championships. The men’s soccer team defeated host Rochester Institute of Technology, 3-0, and the women’s volleyball team defeated Illinois-Benedictine, 3-2, at UCSD.

The soccer title was the first NCAA Division III title for the men’s program, and the volleyball championship was the seventh national title for the women, with five in volleyball and two in tennis.

The national titles top a rather successful season for UCSD’s athletic department.

Consider that, along with the national titles:

--The women’s soccer team finished second in the nation.

--The water polo team finished the season ranked eighth in the country, the highest rating for a Division III team.

--The men’s and women’s cross-country teams finished second in the Division III West Regionals.

Even with all that success, the titles weren’t expected. The volleyball team, national champions the last two seasons, began the season without a returning starter.

But the real surprise was the soccer team, which was not ranked among the top 10 to start the season. UCSD moved to fourth by the end of the year, but then lost starting goalie Brian Siljander with a separated shoulder with 3 regular-season matches remaining.

Greg Stadler, who started last season but left the team to concentrate on his studies after he lost the job to Siljander, returned to the team.

Stadler, who was in goal when UCSD lost on penalty kicks to Cal State San Bernardino in the West Regional final last season, was concerned about his long layoff.

“I don’t want to let any of the guys down,” Stadler said before the regionals. “But I hope they have the understanding that I’m a little fresh. I just hope I don’t make any mistakes that I wouldn’t have made if I was in shape. That’s the only thing that scares me.”

Stadler didn’t make too many errors, earning 2 shutouts and allowing only 4 goals in 5 matches. Two of the goals he allowed were on penalty kicks and another was on a perfectly placed free kick against Emory in the quarterfinals.

He then shut out Messiah during regulation and overtime in the semifinal before UCSD eventually won on penalty kicks. Stadler had 4 saves in the championship match.

Southwestern earned its third appearance in the 4-year history of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame Bowl game with a 32-25 victory over Palomar College Saturday night.

Southwestern will play an opponent to be named this week on Dec. 3 at 1:30 p.m. in Balboa Stadium. The most likely candidate is Antelope Valley, the second-place team in the Foothill Conference.

Antelope Valley is 8-1-1 and ranked No. 17 in the state and No. 9 in Southern California. Southwestern (6-4) is ranked No. 13 in Southern California and won the Mission Conference Southern Division with a 4-0 record.

Southwestern is 1-0-1 in the Hall of Fame Bowl, having tied Grossmont, 35-35, in the first game and defeated San Diego Mesa, 23-0, in 1986. San Diego Mesa defeated Grossmont, 29-26, last year.

This will be the first year the game will not feature two San Diego County teams.

“Our new conference had a little to do with that,” said Harry West, San Diego City College athletic director. “Not only that, but not many schools down here are over .500.”

Southwestern is the only county school over .500. The Southern Division, with five county schools, has a combined record outside the division of 7-24.

Duffy Daugherty of Palomar College set a national record for completions in a season with 233, breaking the mark of 232 set last year by Matt Booher of Inver Hills College (Minn.). Daugherty will finish the season as the state’s top passer despite his team’s 4-6 record. Daugherty, who played at Fallbrook High School, finished the season with 3,006 yards, completing 233 of 420 passes. Daugherty also set a Mission Conference record for passing yards.