CSUN Beats Santa Clara in Soccer Despite Taking Wrong Root

Attempting to find something truly meaningful about Saturday night’s soccer match between Cal State Northridge and Santa Clara and failing miserably in the attempt, one is consoled by this fact: The CSUN cheerleaders spent the entire second half of the game inadvertently cheering for the wrong team.

“Go Big Red, Go Big Red,” they--all three of them--chanted again and again. Trouble was, Santa Clara was the team wearing the brilliant red uniforms. The CSUN Matadors were attired in black and white.

Despite being rooted against by its own cheerleaders, CSUN won its first regular season game of 1986, using a goal on a penalty kick by Frank Cubillos and a brilliant solo effort by Thor Lee to post a 2-0 victory over Santa Clara. Northridge is in the NCAA’s Division II, while Santa Clara is in Division I.

The first goal came 63 minutes into the match. Lee took a crossing pass from Steve Lazarus and headed the ball past goalie Todd Neel, who had abandoned the net and was 20 feet away. Santa Clara defender Ted Pietenbrock, however, had snuck into the goal mouth and batted the ball away, resulting in a penalty kick. For his trouble, Pietenbrock also batted his head against the wooden goal post and seemed stunned.

A moment later, all of the Broncos were stunned as Cubillos drilled the penalty shot past Neel, who had by this time returned to the vicinity of the goal.

“When we saw the kick from Steve sailing high, we all just crashed the net,” said Lee. “I knew I had the goalie beat because he was way off to the side. I saw the defender, but when I saw him reach for the ball with his hand I knew I either had the goal or a penalty kick.”

Ten minutes after the first goal, Lee stole the ball and raced down the right sideline on a 2-on-1 break, with Rodney Batt barreling down the left side. Lee slowed his dribble 40 feet from the goal and faked a pass to Batt. The defender went for the fake like the late Orson Wells went for dessert, and Lee banged the ball into the right side of the net, past a diving Neel.

“When I got the ball I just exploded down the field,” said Lee, a junior fullback. “We practice the 2-on-1 breaks all the time in practice, and if the defender makes a move for the fake I’m supposed to shoot to the right side of the net. He leaned towards Rodney and I just let it go.”

The teams had played a scoreless first half, with CSUN being turned away on several solid scoring chances. Early in the contest, a Lee header was picked off by a lunging Neel and moments later, Batt was alone with the ball in front of the Santa Clara goal but scuffed the shot and Neel made an easy save.

Lee had another good scoring change near the end of the first half, but the shot was deflected by a defender five feet from the goal. A Batt header sailed just inches over the goal a minute later, and in the closing seconds of the half Batt had a breakaway off a long pass but his shot went wide to the left as defender Steve Robertson hurried in to pressure the play.

CSUN picked up the win despite the absence of two of its best players, forwards John Tronson and Joey Kirk. Tronson sustained a separated shoulder in CSUN’s 1-1 exhibition tie against UCLA last week, and Kirk was declared ineligible just minutes prior to the start of the game. Coach Marwan Ass’ad was able to deal with Tronson’s absence, but was upset about Kirk.

“He messed up, that’s all,” Ass’ad said. “It was a technicality between him and the registration people and the administration people. He just didn’t get some things done in time, and he had to miss this game.”

Doctors told Tronson he would be sidelined for three weeks. Tronson doesn’t believe them.

“They say three weeks, but I would have played tonight if they let me,” he said. “It hurts a little, but I’ve been practicing with the team. I’m OK. All I have to find is a doctor who signs the papers saying I can play. I’m sure I’ll be back next week.”

CSUN’s next game is scheduled for Sept. 5 at Santa Barbara.