A trip down Highway 99 and Interstate 5 towards Southern California is a long, monotonous trip for anyone who starts their journey in Turlock. The ride is six hours of brown grass, farms and livestock. For the Cal State Stanislaus men's soccer team this weekend, their journey through the 2009 season will take this route, and could potentially fork in any direction.

The Warriors head to the Los Angeles area for two of the biggest games of the season and a chance to show the California Collegiate Athletic Association that their 6-2 overall and 3-2 CCAA records, the defending CCAA Player of the Week, and their first NCAA West Region ranking in two years are no fluke.

Tuesday it was announced that the Warriors are considered the No. 9 team in the West Region by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. The regional ranking is the team's first of any kind since the first week of the 2007 season when it was ranked No. 4. Today, they will get the chance to take on not only the No. 7 team in the West, but the defending national champions in Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Cal State Dominguez Hills is coming off of a hard-fought 1-0 loss on Wednesday against rival Cal State L.A., the team the Warriors will face Sunday.

Junior Victor Regalado will look to help the team in its endeavors this weekend after he was named the CCAA Player of the Week Tuesday. He scored three goals in two games and helped the Warriors to a 2-0 weekend. Regalado now has nine goals on the season. He leads all strikers in the conference by at least four goals (no other player has more than five goals this season) and he has already tied the Cal State Stanislaus single-season record for goals scored in just seven games played.

The Warriors handed UC San Diego, No. 10 in the region, its first loss of the season last Friday. Regalado scored both goals in a 2-1 victory, his last coming with just 50 seconds left on the clock. On Sunday the Warriors won a 3-2 shootout against new CCAA member Cal State East Bay on Sunday. Regalado scored in the first half to make it 2-0 Warriors at the time.

On Sunday, the Warriors will travel to the City of Angels to meet with national No. 3 and undefeated Cal State L.A. The Golden Eagles are the top-ranked team in the West and are 7-0-1 on the season with a commanding six-point lead in the CCAA South Division.

The Warriors bring a much different team to Los Angeles this season than they did a year ago. Last season, the Golden Eagles won 7-1 against the Warriors, who walked on to the Cal State L.A. campus on a seven-game losing streak.

At this point in 2009, the Warriors have won three of their last four games and have already topped the win total from the 2008 and 2007 seasons, when the team notched four victories each of those seasons.

This weekend's road trip to Southern California will be a true test for the young Warriors team, which has a completely redefined look this year. A new coach, new stadium, new uniforms, and a new attitude that will hopefully translate into new results.