Fresno State Athletics
Reynaud Excited About Success of Bulldog Soccer
8/28/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Aug. 28, 2007
FRESNO, Calif. - Although it has been six years since Peter Reynaud has coached the Fresno State women's soccer team, he still remains a huge supporter of the program. In the Bulldogs 2006 WAC championship season, the first ever Fresno State women's soccer coach was present at nearly every home match.
What the former coach saw on the field was a team that posted 16 shut outs, 13 victories and a WAC championship.
The success Fresno State has had the last two years in winning the WAC tournament in 2005 and the WAC regular season championship in 2006 has brought Reynaud great satisfaction.
"I'm a big time supporter of the program," Reynaud said. "It makes me feel great. It's nice to see some continuity and quality in the program. We did a lot of hard work to get the program going. It is good to see the program is still at a national level."
The support Reynaud continues to provide the Bulldog soccer program hasn't gone unnoticed.
"He has always been very supportive of our team," Fresno State coach Steve Springthorpe said. "He calls me every preseason to wish us luck. He comes to our games when he can. It is always good to have the first original coach come back."
As Reynaud has watched Springthorpe's squad over the last three years he has been impressed with the level talent on the field.
"Steve has done a great job," Reynaud said. "His players are in very good shape and they play very good defense, which is what you need to do. The fact that they won the conference the last two years tells you they are playing some good soccer. They are very organized and play a very organized system. He has had a good recruiting class year this year so he should continue to do well."
Springthorpe knows the importance of keeping close ties with former alumni. One of the ways to keep former players involved in the program is with the annual alumni game that takes place before the season starts. This year Reynaud coached 20 of his former players against this year's current Bulldog team.
This allowed Reynaud and past players from the previous 12 years to come and play in Bulldog Stadium one more time. Players like Susan Daher, Cheryl Gano Kuboth, Sara Yudin Stone and Erin Barry from the first ever team in 1995 played along with recent graduates Antonea Lugo and Rochelle Jagdeo.
"It was fun to be here with the girls and to be back in the stadium," Reynaud said. "It was really an honor to be back in the stadium. If you talk to any of these girls they'll tell you that was really exciting."
Reynaud was in Brazil during last years alumni game but each year he looks forward to catching up with his former players and seeing his former players get reacquainted with each other.
"The most rewarding part is to see all of them catching up with each other and how they enjoyed their four years here," he said. "There was a lot of camaraderie here. We had few problems in terms of players getting along with each other."
Because of that camaraderie amongst players who have been in the program, Springthorpe looks forward to continued involvement with former Bulldog soccer alumni.
"It is important to have them involved in our program," he said. "We want them involved in our program. The alumni game is one way we can kind of give back to them and let our past players meet our new players on the team."
"Join the State - Fresno State!" - Fresno State Soccer, the 2006 WAC regular season champions, open the 2007 season at home this Friday, August 31 against UC Irvine at 7 p.m. All tickets are just $1. Tickets are available at www.gobulldogs.com, by phone at 559-278-DOGS or in person at the Bulldog Ticket Office.
