When Cal State Dominguez Hills goalkeeper Derby Carillo left for Division 1 St. John’s the job was up for grabs this year.

Daily Breeze 2004 Player of the Year Miguel Benitez of Gardena transferred over from Loyola Marymount where the former Bishop Montgomery High star played five games in three seasons and CSUDH never missed a beat. Now Cal State Dominguez Hills leaves Tuesday for Tampa, Fla., and a place in the Division II final four.

Benitez chatted via e-mail:

Question: You came over from Loyola Marymount in search of playing time - and you got it. How has the experience of playing with the Toros been compared to the Lions?
Answer: It has been great. The time I spent with the Lions was a good learning experience for me, but I always lacked that game experience that I needed in order to get better and bring my game up. There was always something that kept me out of the line up at LMU, whether it was the coaches, injuries, or whatever. I needed the opportunity to get out on the pitch and get better. The Toros have given me just that. I feel that all the game experience that I have received here with the Toros has made me a much better goalkeeper, and honestly, I feel that I’m at the best I have ever been in my college career.

Goals actually haunt me now, whether it’s in games or even at practice because I feel that I have gotten to a level now where I can make a save on every shot.

Q: Coach Flanagan called you a "difference maker" in your last game over Midwestern State where you made six saves. How was the game from your perspective? How does that game stack up from both a personal and team point of view with others you have played?
A: The Midwestern game was an incredible game. They had the best two central midfielders that I have seen all year, they were dangerous on the ball and moved it around well. The first half, I feel that we struggled a bit to find a rhythm offensively, but as soon as the second half came, we found it and together with the great support we got off the bench from Scott Mariano and Jordan Rover, we found the back of the net. The last 10 minutes though were honestly the longest 10 minutes I have ever played through.

Midwestern State was playing for their season so they were doing their best to outwork us and dump in as many balls as they could to try and get something. I knew that I was going to have to really stay on my toes mentally and physically, to both organize the team and make saves to keep us in it. But in the end, we really held it together and even though we gave up a goal in the last five minutes, I feel we all put a really great effort in to hold on to the win.

Q: You said in the CSUDH media guide that your goal was to win a national championship. You are now one game away from playing for the national title. Are you surprised that you came over from LMU and are promptly in the Final Four?
A: When I first came to Dominguez Hills last spring to talk to Joe Flanagan about becoming a Toro, I told him that I was tired of losing. I came here to win games. So to me it’s no surprise to me that we’re in the Final Four. At the beginning of the year when we first got together as a team for a pre-game dinner all the players sat together and established what our goals as a team were. We made it clear that we are here to win a championship, and now we’re only two games away, we are where we are suppose to be.

Q: Do you know much about your opponents on Friday? Who are their main threats? What are you going to have to watch closely for?
A: We haven’t really discussed them much as team yet in practice. Usually when we come up against a team we haven’t seen or played before, we focus on the one thing we can control, us. If we go and play our game I feel we’ll be fine. One thing I am worried about is playing Tampa at Tampa. It’s always tough playing on the road but in this case I feel it will be especially hard because of the importance of this game, it’s a national semifinal and Tampa is playing at home.

Q: Can the team win a national title? What’s the mood of the team going into the weekend?
Answer: I definitely feel we can win a national title. Ever since our first game in playoffs, we started counting down the games to the title. Now, there are only two games left until we have that title. All we have to do as a team is get out there and play the way we know how, outwork our opponents, and most importantly finish our chances. Personally, I’m going to have to stay focused throughout both games so that I can come up big when I have to. I’ve had a couple of big saves this year in big games so I just have to keep doing what I have been doing and yell and scream to organize the team and be there to make those big saves when I have to. There’s a huge buzz going around in our team right now, we all know what’s at stake, but we’re confident that we can go to Tampa and bring back an NCAA national title to Dominguez Hills.

The score says it all. CSUDH is headed back to the D-II Men’s Soccer FInal Four

Box score

Carson, CA -- In a battle of national heavyweights with a trip to the Division II Men’s Soccer Final Four on the line, 9th-ranked Cal State Dominguez Hills scored two second half goals and withstood a furious Mustang rally to take a 2-1 win on a foggy night in Toro Stadium in front of a raucous crowd of 1,104, earning a trip to Florida and the men’s soccer championships for the first time since 2001.

"It was a great soccer game, and I am sure that the fans enjoyed it and I definitely enjoyed it from the side," begins an elated Joe Flanagan, who coached the Toros to their last NCAA National Title in 2000.

"I think that our bench made all the difference.  When we can send in Mariano and Rover and get that kind of production, that made a difference.  Miguel Benitez had a great game and he was a difference maker tonight.

"The team was amped and antsy before the game, but I told them this is a soccer game that we have played all year and to just focus on what we have to do to win, and not do anything different.

"My goal has always been to get back to the Final Four for the players that come through this program because it is such a great experience.  To play good in a big game is a great sign.  We deserved to win, we took the chance to win and that’s all you can ask for," he concludes.

Both teams came out determined from the outset, with neither defense giving an inch.  The best chance for either team came at the end of the period, with MSU’s Estevao Alexandre weaving his way through the Toro defense and shuttling a pass to a hard-charging Nick Auditore just 6 feet away from the goal, but a charging Miguel Benitez helped cause Auditore’s shot to drift wide, keeping the game scoreless, but serving as a harbinger for an offensive second half.

After the break, the Toros struck fast as Chris Perkins grabbed a loose ball at the top of the box and served a pass to Scott Mariano, who one-touched a ball to Jordan Rover, who sent a low line drive past MSU keeper Shawn Carr’s left for the game’s first score.

The Mustangs, who reached last year’s Final Four with a PK win over Sonoma State, thought they answered in the 55th minute after a free kick from midfield found its way past Benitez.  Mariano, however, was at the right place at the right time and sent the ball towards midfield to quell the scoring opportunity.

MSU had another opportunity in the 58th minute as a cross got by Benitez to the foot of a Mustang striker, but Hiram Rangel saved the scoring chance with a hard tackle to keep CSUDH a goal up.

The Toros took advantage of their next opportunity four minutes later as Rover found a waiting Mariano at the 18-foot line, who directed a sharp-angled rocket past Carr for a 2-nil lead at 62:14.

Midwestern State looked to cut CSUDH’s lead in half in the 69th minute as its transition game gave Craig Sutherland a clean look to Benitez’s right from about 8 yards out, only to see Benitez leap and punch the ball away at its highest point, sending it over the crossbar.

MSU finally got on the board in the 84th minute as Auditore collected a loose ball on the left side, and beat Benitez left post for the Mustangs’ first goal of the game.

That was too little, too late, however, as six Benitez saves, and the soccer version of "four corners" kept the Mustangs from equalizing.

CSUDH outshot MSU 15-13, but was out-cornered 7-3, including a 4-0 edge by the Mustangs after the break.

Said MSU coach Doug Elder, "It was unfortunate that we gave up that early second half goal but CSUDH is a good team and put a lot of pressure on us, shutting us down in the midfield and clearing a lot or chances.

"I have been in the playoffs enough times to know that if you can’t complete those chances then you can’t win the game.  The way the kids fought in the end, we pushed back with the goal and had other chances and they never quit.  They never gave up and I have to give them credit for that."

The Toros head back to the Final Four for the first time in seven years, after making back-to-back appearances in 2000 and 2001.  CSUDH will play on Friday, December 5, against the winner of host Tampa, which defeated Tusculum 3-2.  Kickoff for the prime time semifinal is set for 7:00 pm EST in Pepin Stadium.

The Toros celebrate with their fans after the final horn sounds

More celebrating

This photo, and the scoreboard, are worth a thousand words