The UCSD men’s soccer team went 9-4-3, placed third in the South Division of the California Collegiate Athletic Association and played in the semifinal game of the CCAA playoffs, yet according to head coach Derek Armstrong, who reached his milestone career 300th win with the Tritons during 2004, the season was still a little disappointing.
Armstrong is not crazy — he just holds his team to very high expectations. This year’s squad had a tough act to follow after the 2003 team made it to the CCAA championship game and the NCAA Division II playoffs with an 11-7-1 record. The NCAA playoff appearance was the Tritons’ first since they moved up from Division III. UCSD almost made it two years in a row, but were not selected for Regionals this year.
Despite being disappointed that his team did not go all the way, Armstrong has a characteristically optimistic outlook on next year.
“I think we’re going to be the dangerous team in the league,” he said. “I think we’re going for a National Championship.”
A National Championship would be a first for the Tritons, but Armstrong is confident that the team next year will be that good. Junior midfielder Matt Davey, the Tritons’ point leader this year, an All-CCAA First Team member and an All-American, will return next year to try to lead the team to a South Division title and hopefully more.
The division will be chock full of competition with Cal State Dominguez Hills, undefeated during the regular season in the CCAA this year, and Cal State Bakersfield, the reigning CCAA champions.
“CSDH and Bakersfield are going to be strong next year,” Armstrong said. “It’s going to be a heck of a conference.”
To compete in a tough conference such as the CCAA, the Tritons need to maintain the dominant defense that kept them in many games this year. Both goalkeepers, Edward Ruhland and Scott Mazurier, are seniors and cannot contribute next year. Many other defensemen are also graduating this year, but Armstrong’s confidence does not waver one bit.
“We’re pretty well covered,” he said. “We’re not going to miss a beat. We’ll be fine.”
Armstrong has proven himself year after year as the head coach of the Tritons. He has coached at UCSD for 23 years and has a 303-114-40 record. Many of those wins came in Division III, where Armstrong won three national titles in 1988, when the Tritons went undefeated with a 23-0-2 record, in 1991 and 1993. This sort of dominance was not present prior to Armstrong’s arrival. The Triton soccer program began in 1975 and had six losing seasons in its first seven years.
In 2000, the Tritons outgrew their Division III roots and graduated into Division II and the CCAA, one of the toughest conferences in all of Division II. In its first season in the CCAA, UCSD took the South Division title with an 11-5-2 overall record and a 9-3-2 conference record. The Tritons repeated their relative success with winning seasons in the CCAA every year except for 2001, when injuries put the team at a distinct disadvantage.
Such competitiveness led Armstrong to record his 300th career win this season, a milestone that means little to him right now.
“I’m not thinking that way,” he said. “I’m thinking about what went wrong this season.”
Although Armstrong downplays the importance of the record, it will always remain in the history books at UCSD. Earlier this season, UCSD women’s soccer coach Brian McManus recorded his 300th win as well. McManus and Armstrong are the only two active coaches in NCAA soccer history each with 300 wins at the same school.
From his 23-year tenure at UCSD, Armstrong has many memories and reasons to be proud, but all he’ll talk about is next year.
“I’ll look back when I retire,” he said.
