CSUN Tops Westmont in Soccer, 3-1

First they wanted him to use his head. Then they wanted him to use his feet. Yet, after his head had done so well, it let him down--which is where two opponents went when he used his feet.

And so it went for Cal State Northridge’s John Tronson, who helped the Matadors to a 3-1 victory Wednesday night over Westmont College.

Tronson used his head and scored a goal for CSUN. But later he used his feet and was ejected for tripping.

“Well, yeah, he wasn’t using his head on that one,” CSUN Coach Marwan Ass’ad said.

As the preseason draws to a close and the Matadors (7-1-0) brace themselves to defend the conference title, Ass’ad’s team is trying to get the ball to Tronson’s feet as often as it gets to the top of his 6-4 frame.

“We have to balance our attack so the ball gets to his feet as well,” Ass’ad said. Apparently, it doesn’t matter. With seven goals, Tronson is the leading scorer in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn.

Tronson isn’t the only CSUN scoring threat. Fullback Rick Gora scored his third preseason goal early in the first half. After Butch Grosvenor blocked a shot, Gora rebounded and fired past the Westmont goalie to put CSUN ahead, 1-0.

Playing a man short after Tronson’s ejection, the Matadors wasted only two minutes before they scored again. After battling for the ball in heavy traffic, Frank Cubillos found himself one-on-one against Grosvenor and fired past him to cap CSUN’s scoring. Junior forward Jerardo Jimenez scored the lone goal for Westmont (6-2-1) against reserve goalkeeper Mike Caputo.