2. Defenders
Simone Basey
HS:
-Presidence High Honor Roll (HS)
-Microsoft Word Certifed
Club: SoCal Blues ECNL
-ECNL Phoenix National Selection Game 2025
-Southwest All-Conference First Team 2025
Fun: great cook
Aiden Bengard
REDSHIRT FRESHMAN (2025)
Appeared in 17 games with 13 starts during the 2025 season… Recorded four points on one goal and two assists.
FRESHMAN (2024)
Did not appear in any games during the 2024 season.
HIGH SCHOOL
Attended Fullerton Union High School… Played basketball and soccer in high school… Was a scholar athlete… First team all-league junior and senior year… Offensive team MVP junior year and team MVP senior year, team captain senior year.
PERSONAL
Born in Placentia and raised in Fullerton… Parents are Alex and Jamie… Has two younger brothers, Liam and Declan… Majoring in business at CSF… Enjoys going to the beach, snowboarding and playing basketball in free time… Dad played soccer at Cal State Dominguez Hills and won the DII National Championship in 2000 before playing for the LA Galaxy, Seattle Sounder and Portland Timbers… Two cousins selected in the MLB Draft… Favorites: sushi (food), Iniesta (athlete), Man United (team), Bad Boys (movie), Silverlakes (place to play), Ramen Hub, Din Tai Fung (restaurants).
Austin Dang
2024 (Freshman | Cal State San Bernardino)
- Appeared in 12 games for the Coyotes off the bench
- Attempted three shots, with two being on goal
High School
- A 2023 graduate of Canyon High School in Anaheim, Calif.
- Played two years of varsity soccer for the Comanches
- Won two CIF and state championships
Personal
- Born on September 15, 2006
- The son of Don and Hanhna Dang
- Has two siblings, Brandon and Cidney
- Is majoring in administration at CSUSB
- Aspires to be a professional soccer player
- Favorite TV shows are SpongeBob SquarePants, The Amazing Race, and Love Island
- Favorite movies are Cars, Back to the Future, and The Fast and the Furious
- Favorite musical artists are Drake, Partynextdoor, and Future
- Favorite professional teams are FC Barcelona, the Los Angeles Lakers, and Los Angeles Dodgers
- Favorite professional athletes is Lionel Messi
- Chose CSUSB for the men’s soccer coaching staff and team
- Favorite spot on campus: Student Recreation & Wellness Center
Jonathan Grado
SENIOR (2025)
Appeared in three games with two starts during the 2025 season before being sidelined with an injury… Recorded one goal.
SENIOR (2024)
Played and started in all 20 games during the 2024 season… Recorded six points on one goal and four assists.
JUNIOR (2023)
Appeared in 15 games with one start during the 2023 season.
PRIOR TO CSF
Attended Long Beach City College for two years prior to transferring to Cal State Fullerton… Named conference defensive player of the year and team MVP.
HIGH SCHOOL
Attended Anaheim High School… Played soccer at the varsity level for three seasons.
PERSONAL
Born and raised in Anaheim, Calif… Parents are Jose and Claudia… Has two brothers, Victor and Joshua and one sister, Jenifer… Majoring in communications with an emphasis in public relations… Favorites include: Mole (food), Barcelona (team), 50 First Dates and About Time (movies), Kanye, Kid Cudi and A$AP Rocky (musical artists), The Alchemist (book), Fogo De Chao and Roll N’ Grill (restaurants).
Alex Valente
PRIOR TO CSUN
Valente prepped at Long Beach Polytechnic High School and graduated in 2025 … spent four years on the soccer team … named All-CIF team in 2025 along with Moore League Co-Defensive Player of the Year and All-Moore League honors … helped Long Beach Poly to a soccer league title …
CLUB EXPERIENCE: played club for the So Cal Blues.
PERSONAL
Daughter of Allan and Summer Valente … siblings are Arin and Alijah … favorites include Angel City FC, Anthony Edwards, Anne Hathaway, The Office, the film Always Be My Maybe, The Internet and SZA … favorite food is lumpia … chose CSUN because she felt it was the right fit both personally and athletically along with the coaching staff and the location … says her receiving an award named after herself by her high school coaches was her favorite sports moment … lists the friendships that are built as the best thing about being an athlete … says her mom is her hero.
Sydney Santos
HIGH SCHOOL:
- Played varsity soccer for four seasons and was a two-year captain at Long Beach Poly HS
- Played flag football as well
- Moore League Champions and CIF Southern Section Finalists at Long Beach Poly
- Four-time All-League selection (2021-24)
- Coach Honors (2022, 24)
- ECNL West Regional Champion (2023)
- Seven-time 4.0 GPA nominee
- Seven-time Principal’s Honor Roll
- Pursuit of Excellence Recipient
- Club president of the Student-Athlete Association Club
- AP Scholar with Distinction
PERSONAL: Daughter of Ullysses and Shim … Sister, Sarah, played soccer at SJSU from 2020-24 … Chose SJSU due to diverse area and city, familial feeling and engineering program … Chemical Engineering major.
Armon Haghighat
- Spent two seasons at Irvine Valley College
- Played in 21 matches with 16 starts in 2024
- Tallied 14 points, scoring three goals with eight assists
- As a freshman in 2023, played in 22 matches and made 14 starts
- Totaled 14 points with five goals and four assists
- Named to Kickaballpods’s Juco-Select First Team
- Played high school soccer at University HS
- Named All CIF-Southern Section First Team, Pacific Coast League MVP and Pacific Coast League Scholar Athlete Award
- Helped his team win the Pacific Coast League championship in 2023
- Placed club soccer with West Coast FC ECNL
- Named to the ECNL Southwest Conference First Team
PERSONAL
- Son of Nader and Daouia Haghighat
- Has one brother, Cameron, and one sister, Camellia
- Enjoys playing pickleball in his free time
- Majoring in Business Marketing at UE
- Chose UE because of “the small class sizes and I have belief in the soccer program.”
