By: Jennifer Hager

Staff Writer

On Friday, October 25, Head Soccer Coach Ron Pulvers received the news that both men’s and women’s soccer teams secured the second seed going into the Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) Conference Tournament in Gwinnet, Georgia.

The next day marked another reason to celebrate.

With the Men’s 2-1 victory over Westminster, Pulvers recorded his 200^th win as a men’s head soccer coach. Pulvers, who tries not to put a lot into his own personal achievements, says that he, “never started coaching to win 200 games.”  He believes that the student-athlete experience is the most important. He wants his athletes to learn life lessons, build character and to continue the relationships they have built on the soccer field past graduation.  Pulvers notes that the student-athletes deserve all the credit.                                                                              “

“I’ve been lucky to coach at two incredible institutions that support athletics,” Pulvers said.

He is now 75-47-13 in eight years at CSUSM. Pulvers went 126-71-14 over 10 seasons at Baker (Kan.) from 1996-2006.

For a program that has had to deal with a lot of adversity, Pulvers feels that being able to share his 200^th win with this group of guys made it even more special.  A fresh-faced program, the men’s team is now represented the way he wants it to be.  Junior Sullivan Tobin scored the game winning goal. “I always wants to impress the coach, it was nice to get him his 200^th win for senior day and the last game at home,” said Tobin.

Since this game, the men beat Point Loma in overtime to finish their season off, and give Pulvers his 201^st win. The Cougars are now 10-4-2 after regular season play and are gearing up for the A.I.I. Conference Tournament on November 15.