COLLEGE YEAR IN REVIEW : THE TEAMS

Cal Lutheran football: To truly understand what happened during Cal Lutheran’s football season in the fall of 1986 is to feel pain. Physical anguish was the story line. Name an ailment and there it was on the injury list: blown-out, twisted, sprained and strained knees, hip pointers, dislocated shoulders, fractured ankles, damaged ligaments, groin pulls, nerve damage in the neck, a broken collarbone, bruised thighs, pulled muscles and a dislocated elbow.

One writer suggested the team change its motto from “Year of the Kingsmen” to “Yeeeooooowwww.” Even the coach went down with an injury. Said a bent-over Bob Shoup, who suffered recurring back pains: “I’ve been taking some muscle-relaxing pills and I’m getting goofier and goofier. By the end of the week, I’ll either be cured or I’ll be a junkie.”

Junk is what the season turned into by its eighth week. At that juncture, 30 Kingsmen had suffered injuries, the most notable being quarterback Tom Bonds. After passing the Kingsmen to wins in their first two games, Bonds sprained his knee against Cal State Hayward and missed most of three games. He started the freakish skid of injuries along with a seven-game losing streak.

After the ailments began, CLU was basically a sad sack of potatoes for opponents to toss around. The Kingsmen finally beat Azusa Pacific in their 10th game and finished 3-8. In its Silver Anniversary season, CLU lost more games than it had in any other.

Northridge football: The slogan for the Cal State Northridge football season was “A New Beginning.” CSUN had been 4-7 in 1985 and had few new faces. Optimism thrived during workouts under the supervision of first-year Coach Bob Burt, but skeptics warned that many teams remain undefeated during the preseason.

Northridge stayed unbeaten through its first three games, including a 20-7 win over 19th-ranked Cal State Hayward at North Campus Stadium. On Sept. 22, CSUN was ranked No. 15 in the nation--the first time since 1981 the Matadors had made the Top 20. Burt wasn’t convinced. “Rankings are like poison,” he said. “If you swallow it, it can kill you.”

The Matadors ended the season 8-3, equaling the best record in CSUN history. Victories over Hayward and highly regarded Portland State (34-0) were particularly impressive. Losses to second-ranked UC Davis (25-20) and Cal State Sacramento (21-17) were particularly heartbreaking.

Northridge pulled out all the stops against Davis--taking a field goal off the board to go for a first down; throwing a 23-yard pass on fourth-and-1; faking a punt on fourth-and-7; and, finally, having All-American running back Mike Kane throw the ball. All the gimmicks worked, too. Except the last. With 1:58 left in the game and CSUN 19 yards away from a touchdown, Kane’s halfback pass was intercepted, and Davis held on for the win.

In the Western Football Conference championship game, the Matadors again pulled defeat from the jaws of victory. Sacramento defeated CSUN, 21-17, when Lin Klinkhammer caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from Drew Wyant with 13 seconds remaining. Three plays earlier, Wyant had connected with Mark Young on a 39-yard pass on third-and-16.

Despite the disappointment from losing in the title game, senior nose tackle Darrell McIntyre managed to put the season in perspective. “It’s comforting for the seniors that we went out winners,” he said. “No matter what anyone says. We came a long way in a year.”

Valley football: A season of guarded optimism began at Valley College with 17 players who transferred from Pierce College when that school’s successful program was eliminated in the wake of budget cuts in the Los Angeles Community College District.

Combined with the return of several starters from a team that finished 8-2 and was ranked 18th in the state in 1985, prospects were high for the Monarchs.

By the end of the season, Valley lived up to advance billing, winning its final six games by a combined score of 253-63. But the surge came after an 0-3 start that cost the Monarchs the Southern California Conference championship by one game.

The fast finish became moot one week before the end of the regular season when Valley forfeited three conference games for using an ineligible player.

Moorpark football: Coach Jim Bittner had three quarterbacks he believed were capable of starting. All three tested his faith.

In a season-opening 20-7 loss to L.A. Harbor, starter Dan Nagelmann threw two interceptions, Steve Armstrong was picked off three times and Steve Haddad didn’t complete any of his five passes.

The following week, each quarterback passed for a touchdown or directed a scoring drive as Moorpark routed Compton, 49-19.

Moorpark eventually finished in second place in the WSC with a record of 6-3 but was not offered a wild-card berth to a postseason game.

Northridge women’s volleyball: Always the bridesmaid. Ranked No. 1 for most of the season, the Lady Matadors wound up second for the third straight season.

So confident was CSUN early in the season that several players drew the number ‘2” on the sides of their shoes with the international “no” angled through it. “We’re not going to come in second this year,” junior Anna Garcia said. “We’re going to come in first.”

Northridge did just that in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn., defeating UC Riverside in three straight games to win its fourth consecutive conference championship. A few weeks later, however, Riverside returned the favor, overwhelming Northridge, 15-9, 15-6, 15-6, in the Division II national championship match at Cal State Sacramento. It was only the second time in four years that Riverside had defeated Northridge.

Northridge soccer: The Matadors won their third straight CCAA championship but lost to defending national champion Seattle Pacific, 2-1, in a Division II quarterfinal at North Campus Stadium. It was only the third time in 30 games that CSUN had lost on its home field.

Cal Lutheran soccer: Led by honorable mention NAIA All-Americans Robert Marti and Peter Arreola, the Kingsmen advanced to the District III playoffs before being eliminated. The team ended with a record of 14-6-1.

Northridge cross-country: Darcy Arreola finished 11th and Nancy Bowman finished 13th to lead the Northridge women’s cross-country team to a second-place finish at the Division II national championships. The men’s team placed 10th. Dave Walsh, who was 37th, was CSUN’s top individual finisher.

Northridge men’s basketball: Asked early in the season what separated his team from what he considered the top three teams in the conference, Northridge Coach Pete Cassidy had a one-word answer: “Talent.”

Northridge was 1-7 after blowing a 42-27 lead with 14 1/2 minutes left against San Francisco State. The Matadors then were outscored, 30-2, in an 11-minute stretch. “The last 15 minutes of that game is something I’ve never seen anywhere, anytime,” Cassidy said. “We just didn’t have enough timeouts. I used them all and there were still about nine minutes left. I would have never believed it. You’d never convince me it could happen to us, but unfortunately I witnessed it.”

One interesting early season nonconference matchup was Northridge vs. The Master’s (0-10). Northridge won, 66-64, when Pat Bolden made a layup with three seconds left after pushing a defender out of the way and taking a full-court pass from Ray Horwath.

It gave the team a shove in the right direction. Northridge improved considerably as the season progressed and came within seconds of qualifying for the CCAA playoff tournament.

Northridge failed to make the tournament field when it lost to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 68-67, on a four-point play by Mark Otta with seven seconds left in the game. Otta hit a three-point shot, was fouled, and made the free throw.

Northridge women’s basketball: The highlight and the lowlight of Northridge’s season came in one game against (who else?) Cal Poly Pomona.

Pomona was ranked No. 1 in February when it trailed Northridge by seven with 32 seconds remaining in a game at CSUN. That was the high point. The low point came 5:32 later after CSUN had blown its lead and the game, in overtime, to Pomona, 88-78. The Lady Matadors committed four turnovers in their last six possessions.

Northridge finished the season 16-11 overall and 8-4 and in second place in the CCAA. Northridge just couldn’t escape Pomona. In the conference tournament final, Pomona defeated CSUN for the 27th straight time over an 11-year period, 80-46.

The Master’s men’s basketball: Master’s was the pauper of college basketball. Not only was this team poor, the coach admitted as much. After watching the Mustangs lose by 22 points at home, dropping their record to 1-17, Coach Randy Stem said: “Aw, shoot, we’ve got a bunch of forwards out there. And they’re all 6-4. No guards. No center.” And no hope.

Translation: Master’s was as bad as its final record indicated--5-24.

Cal Lutheran men’s basketball: Blasting its way to the best start in its basketball history, Cal Lutheran amazed its fans with a 4-3 early season record. Interim Coach Larry Lopez became something of a cult hero in Thousand Oaks when the Kingsmen had a winning percentage better than .500 before Christmas.

For the first time in more than 20 years, the Kingsmen beat Westmont twice in the same season. But, alas, CLU eventually bottomed out, finishing with a 10-18 record.

Guard Steve deLaveaga averaged 25 points a game in the Golden State Athletic Conference and 20 points a game overall.

Moorpark basketball: Center Dave Bussey was named most valuable player after Moorpark defeated Ventura, 76-69, to win its own tournament title in December.

Three months later, Ventura won the title it really wanted, defeating Saddleback in the championship game of the state tournament.

Moorpark wrestling: Keith Hernandez and Ross Boomhower earned All-American honors as the Moorpark wrestling team finished third in the state wrestling tournament.

Hernandez, wrestling at 118 pounds, and Boomhower, at 190 pounds, finished third in their respective divisions.

Northridge swimming: Sophomores Jude Kylander, Tina Schnare and Stacey Mettam combined for 239 of Northridge’s 349 points as the Lady Matador swim team won its first national title since 1982.

College of the Canyons baseball: The head coach was different, but for the most part the results remained the same.

College of the Canyons lost longtime Coach Mike Gillespie to USC, but the Cougars still won more than their share of games. Canyons (34-10-1) failed to defend its state junior college baseball championship, however, losing to Cerritos and finishing fourth in the state tournament in San Jose.

Northridge baseball: The Matadors weren’t the best baseball team the school has ever had, but they were certainly one of the most interesting. Northridge batted .312 and hit a school-record 103 home runs, all of which almost overcame lack of pitching depth and some poor defensive play.

The Matadors finished the season 37-22, 18-12 and in second place in the CCAA. Northridge advanced to the West regionals where it defeated Cal State Chico, 9-6, before being swept by CCAA champion Cal State Dominguez Hills, 5-1 and 6-3.

Cal Lutheran baseball: Cal Lutheran’s baseball team suffered through a 16-27 season as Coach Al Schoenberger’s 14-year career at CLU limped to a dismal end. Schoenberger announced his retirement during the season, saying: “When you’re trying to push a grapefruit through a doughnut, it’s time to move on.”

The Master’s baseball: After a 20-32 record in 1986, no one expected much from Master’s baseball.

But the Mustangs won their season-opener, 11-10, against Hawaii Pacific on a two-run homer by Chris Hernandez in the bottom of the 13th inning and went on to a 25-20 record overall, 17-7 in District III.

Northridge softball: Six Lady Matadors made the all-tournament team as CSUN made short work of its three opponents at the Division II World Series in Quincy, Ill. Freshman Debbie Dickman was the winning pitcher in each of CSUN’s victories. She defeated Florida Southern, 4-0, on a no-hitter in the championship game. The Lady Matadors finished 58-7.

Cal Lutheran softball: Cal Lutheran was eliminated in the District III playoffs in May. The Regals wound up with a record of 32-16.

Moorpark softball: The Raiders bowed out of the Southern California regional tournament with successive losses but not before two players made names for themselves. Pitcher Karen Mead finished the season with 187 strikeouts and a total of 295 for her career, 22 shy of the state junior college record. Teammate Malia Ouzts batted .413 and was named Western State Conference Player of the Year.

Pierce tennis: The Brahmas won the Western State Conference title, giving Coach Paul Xanthos his 18th conference title in 23 years at the school.

Cal Lutheran tennis: CLU’s tennis team was ranked 14th among NAIA teams. The Kingsmen won both the GSAC and District III titles.

Northridge golf: The Matadors led the team standings by five shots going into the final round of the Division II championships but collapsed and finished sixth.