Dec. 5, 2005

Fullerton, Calif. - Assistant Coach Bob Ammann today agreed to a one-year contract to serve as head coach of the Cal State Fullerton men's soccer program. A search for a new assistant to replace him will begin immediately.

Ammann, 40, was a full-time assistant for the past 11 years under Head Coach Al Mistri, who retired after the 2005 season. Ammann also served four years as a part-time coach. During his coaching tenures the Titans made five trips to the NCAA Tournament, reaching the national semifinals in 1993 and the quarterfinals in 1994.

"I am extremely honored and very excited to be taking charge of the men's soccer program at my alma mater, " said Ammann. "I appreciate this opportunity and look forward to bringing the program back to the national prominence that we once had. There is a lot of work that needs to be done, but I am confident and very eager to make sure that the necessary steps are taken."

"We're very excited to have Bob Ammann assume the head coaching duties," said Director of Athletics Brian Quinn. "We have great confidence in his abilities and are confident he will get the program back on the right track. The program will be funded to the maximum of 9.9 scholarships and we are looking at additional ways to improve it."

The Titans were 4-14-1 in 2005 and are 35-53-9 over the last five seasons since their last NCAA appearance and a decade of regular appearances in the national Top 20 polls.

" I also want to thank Al Mistri for a quarter century of service to Cal State Fullerton," said Quinn. "I know he didn't go out the way he would have liked, but he made a tremendous contribution to Titan athletics, taking an almost after-thought program to NCAA prominence. I wish him a very happy and healthy retirement and hope he knows that the success of this program is his legacy."

Ammann was the Titans' goaltender during the 1983 through 1986 seasons. He posted 12 career shutouts including six in the 1986 season when he helped the Titans capture the Pacific Coast Athletic Association championship and their first NCAA Div. I playoff berth. His younger brother, Mike, was the Titans' goaltender 1990 through 1993 and went on to a long career in professional soccer. Bob played at the professional level for Neuchatel Xamax of the Swiss First Divison in 1989 and 1990. He also played for Brighton and Hove Albion F.C. in England, the Edmonton Brickmen of the Canadian Soccer League and the Los Angeles Salsa of the American Professional Soccer League.

Ammann's appointment raises the number of former Titan student-athletes now serving as head coach at his or her alma mater to four. He joins George Horton (baseball), Michelle Gromacki (softball) and John Elders (cross country and track and field). The Titans have had as many as six in that category at one time including former coaches Lynn Rogers and Julie Knight-Bowse (women's gymnastics), Dan Lewis and Ardeshir Asgari (wrestling) and Donny Daniels (men's basketball). (Current women's gymnastics coach Richard Gishi graduated from Fullerton but competed for UCLA).