From the Bench... Oct. 16, 2002 – Fullerton, Calif.
Coach Al Mistri:
"Saturday we played one of our better games of the year. We started
out minus three starters (David Dischner, Mitch Wagner, Adriano Lima)
who we have had, but people stepped up pretty big. In particular, Brendan
Dugan (freshman, Aliso Niguel HS) did a very good job of containing Rob
Friend and Fouzi Elmojahid (sophomore, Davis HS) stepped in at midfield.
"There were some external circumstances with the way we were treated
up there that had an effect on our youngsters. They were particularly
upset and that had an effect on our play against a very strong and powerful
team. When we tied the score, we thought we had them since we had a 1-man
advantage. But a combination of strong play by one of their defenders
and a stroke of luck allowed them to go ahead with about one minute left.
"The good thing is we have those guys on our field later in the year,
and we look forward with anticipation to that game.
"We are now 0-1 in the conference which promises to be the most exciting
it's been in a long time. We're hell bent to even up the score at Cal
Poly and get ready for a good run finally at home. We are cautiously optimistic
about the outcome. The guys are working hard and the spirit is high and
that is encouraging."
