COLLEGES / IRENE GARCIA : Gabriel’s Concert Gives Toros the Boot

What does rock singer Peter Gabriel have in common with the Cal State Dominguez Hills women’s soccer team? Both will use the same grounds for events this weekend.

Gabriel’s concert has priority, so the Toros must move two matches to a practice area adjacent to the main field.

Gabriel will perform Saturday afternoon as part of the World of Music Art and Dance Organization, which he founded in 1980. Pop group Crowded House, American hip-hop group PM Dawn and reggae singer Ziggy Marley will also perform.

Dominguez Hills moved today’s match against Hayward from 3 p.m. to 1 p.m. to allow promoters enough time to prepare the field for the concert.

On Sunday, Dominguez Hills will play host UC Davis. Of concern to Toro Coach Marine Cano is the beating the grounds will take from concert-goers.

“That practice field is so beat up,” Cano said. “I’m just hoping that they fill the holes and make sure it’s safe. We know its going to be almost practically destroyed during the concert.”

The Toros, ranked seventh in NCAA Division II, lost in overtime to fourth-ranked Sonoma State on Wednesday.

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There is, however, a positive for the Toros. As part of the deal to rent campus grounds for the concert, promoters agreed to sod the main field. The procedure will take place Sunday.

The field won’t be usable for about 10 days, a period in which no home matches have been scheduled.

“The way the budget is now days, everybody at Cal State Dominguez Hills has to sacrifice,” Cano said. “We’ll finally get our field close to the standard we want.”

Although he’s not a Peter Gabriel fan, Cano plans to sneak into the concert. He added that he will probably end up patrolling the field.

“I might see people scuffing up the dirt and I’ll tell them to stop,” he said. “Hey, they might end up throwing me out.”

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The Dominguez Hills men’s soccer team is off to its best start since 1989. The 19th-ranked Toros improved to 4-1 after defeating Southern California College, 2-1, Tuesday.

Dominguez Hills had two impressive road victories last week. The Toros, unranked at the time, beat sixth-ranked Grand Canyon University, 4-1, at Phoenix and Division III powerhouse California Lutheran, 2-1, at Thousand Oaks.

Forward Masahiro Fujiki leads the team with five goals and 10 points. The senior became the second player in school history to score two goals in consecutive games (against Grand Canyon and Cal Lutheran). Gerardo Yepez, a graduate of Hawthorne High, is the other player to accomplish the feat.

“We’ve created a big defensive backfield,” Cano said. “We also have some major speed and this team can score goals. We haven’t been shutout yet.”

It’s the first time in school history that the men’s and women’s soccer teams have been simultaneously ranked in the top 20.

The Pepperdine women’s volleyball team has a South Bay connection. Eleventh-year Coach Nina Matthies is a Manhattan Beach native and Mira Costa High graduate. Three of her players attended Mira Costa.

Outside hitters Erika Stevens, Rainy Chrisman and Ann Windes were all standout athletes for the Mustangs. Chrisman and Windes are among the team’s statistical leaders.

Chrisman, a 5-foot-10 senior, leads the Waves with 63 digs. She ranks second in aces (four) and blocks (14). Windes, a 5-9 freshman, is fifth in kills (31) and fourth in kill average (2.07). The 18-year-old had a career-high 11 kills against University of Pacific last week.

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Loyola Marymount recently named former San Diego State standout Brooke Meadows an assistant women’s basketball coach.

Meadows, 26, started for the Aztecs from 1986-89 and finished with 1,310 points and 693 rebounds. Meadows also played professionally for a season in the Luxembourg League and has worked a series of summer camps at Big Eight Conference schools Colorado and Kansas and the NBA’s Denver Nuggets.

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What’s in a name?

Loyola Marymount women’s basketball Coach Todd Corman and wife Jennifer had their first child July 31.

The couple named the nine-pound, 10-ounce boy Wyatt Christopher Corman, which coincidentally carries the same initials as the West Coast Conference, the league Loyola competes in.

Notes

Loyola outside hitter Amy Moeller and middle blocker Mardell Wrensch were named to the all-tournament team at last week’s Tiger Classic in Louisiana. Wrensch had 21 kills and 13 blocks and Moeller had 19 kills, 15 digs and five aces. The Lions beat 15th-ranked Louisiana State and placed second in the event after losing to eventual champion Florida State in four games. . . . Dominguez Hills senior middle blocker Evonne Caouette leads the team with 2.68 kills a game and a .295 attack percentage. She also leads the Toros in service aces, blocks and digs.

Ted Cotti, who competed in cross-country at Loyola in the mid-1980s, was the school’s top finisher at last week’s invitational cross-country meet, which featured present and former runners. Cotti finished the 8-K course in 25 minutes 1 second.