COLLEGE OF THE CANYONS: BAD DAY FOR COC SOCCER.

Byline: Erik Boal Special to the Daily News

Following a regular season in which they combined to win 25 of 37 games, the College of the Canyons men's and women's soccer teams picked the most inopportune time for the worst possible scenario to occur.

After the teams recorded victories on the same day six times en route to both qualifying for the Southern California Regional playoffs, they both lost on Nov. 16.

The ninth-seeded COC men's team was eliminated by Moorpark 2-0. and the eighth-seeded COC women's team suffered a 2-1 loss to Orange Coast in the opening round of the regional playoffs, marking the first time all season both of coach Phil Marcellin's teams lost on the same day.

``It was a tough day,'' Marcellin said. ``But I'm extremely pleased with how the year went. I'm very optimistic about the future and I think our progress is even a little bit ahead of schedule.''

After finishing 4-12 in 2002 and 8-5-5 in 2003, the COC women's team won the Western State Conference South Division, finishing with a 13-3-3 record. And with 12 of 19 players eligible to return next season, Marcellin has high hopes for 2005.

``We hope (our success) has a big bearing on what we do next season,'' said Marcellin, who returns his two leading scorers in Saugus graduate Danielle Johanson (11 goals) and Monica Gonzales (nine goals). ``When you run a two-year program, your development in the offseason is huge. We focused really hard on training last spring and now we need to refocus and go back to the basics to prepare for next season.

``We just have to continue our progress. Our defense had a letdown for 10 to 12 minutes (against Orange Coast) and it breaks my heart for those girls, especially the sophomores, because they were so strong all season. But it will be good fuel for the offseason training for the girls who are returning.''

Marcellin also hopes to challenge his women's team with a tougher nonconference schedule, with the goal of securing a higher seed for the postseason.

``The loss (to Orange Coast) was a shot against us having a higher seed,'' Marcellin said. ``Our conference was pretty tight, but we need to plan a little better preseason schedule.''

Sophia Constantinou, Jessica Gudino and Kacey Matsunaga are all starters eligible to return next season.

--Third time, no charm: The COC men's team, in just its second season, enjoyed a breakout campaign, posting a 12-4-4 record after a 6-8-4 finish last season. Now, if the Cougars could just find a way to beat WSC rival Moorpark. COC's loss to Moorpark in the opening round of the regional playoffs was its third of the season against the Raiders.

``We were able to build on our strong finish last year, now we just need to take that next step,'' Marcellin said. ``Trying to beat Moorpark will be a concerted effort on our part during the offseason. It will be a focus in our play and a focus in the recruiting battle.

``I have nothing but respect for coach (Sean) Roche. We both have quality teams and we were both disappointed about the matchup because we thought if we were in different parts of the bracket, we both could have advanced.''

The COC men's team has 15 players eligible to return next season, led by leading scorers Tommy Burlic and Mauricio Harrie, who each had 11 goals.

--Still hanging on:After needing a victory in Friday's regular-season finale against Glendale just to secure a postseason berth, the COC women's volleyball team recorded one of its biggest wins in program history Tuesday with its 30-32, 30-28, 30-25, 23-30, 15-13 victory at fourth-seeded Ventura in the opening round of the Southern California Regional playoffs.

The 13th-seeded Cougars (13-6), who concluded the regular season 7-6 after winning their first five matches, face 12th-seeded Cuesta or fifth-seeded San Diego Mesa on Saturday at a site to be determined. COC lost to Cuesta in five games on Oct. 12 and defeated San Diego Mesa 25-17, 25-20 in the semifinals of the Southern California Invitational on Sept. 18.

--Strong finish: The future of the Cougars' women's cross country team is looking brighter, thanks to the late-season surge by freshman Jessica Gomez.

After finishing third at the WSC finals Oct. 26 at Allan Hancock of Santa Maria behind Brittany Grimes of Bakersfield and Caren Sather-Sperry of Moorpark, Gomez continued to gain on the top two finishers at Saturday's state finals at Woodward Park in Fresno. Gomez finished seventh at the state meet, clocking 18 minutes, 52.39 seconds on the 5,000-meter course, behind Grimes (second, 18:16.39) and Sather-Sperry (fifth, 18:47.75).

That performance came after Gomez took 16th at the Nov. 6 Southern California Championships at Cuesta of San Luis Obispo, clocking 17:31, compared to Grimes (second, 16:08) and Sather-Sperry (fourth, 16:54).