Tampa to Face Northridge in Soccer Playoff

Joey Kirk’s international experience might come in handy tonight when the Cal State Northridge soccer team meets Tampa in the semifinals of the NCAA Division II Final Four.

About 2,000 spectators are expected at Pepin/Rood Stadium for the 7:30 (EST) game, pitting the high-scoring Matadors against a Tampa team that has recorded 12 shutouts with the help of three talented Swedish players who start in the back row.

The winner of tonight’s game will play Sunday for the national title against either third-ranked Missouri-St. Louis (17-3-1) or sixth-ranked Southern Connecticut State (15-1-3), which meet in today’s other semifinal at 4.

“I’d really like to beat them because it’s not just us playing Tampa,” said Kirk, who is a member of the U. S. National team. “It’s our Americans playing their foreigners. I want to show them that Americans can play.”

CSUN (18-1-1), ranked No. 1 in Division II, defeated two-time defending national champion Seattle Pacific, 1-0, to win the West regional. Tampa (16-2-1), ranked second, defeated Florida Tech, 2-1, to win the South.

CSUN, which is making its first appearance in the semifinals, has four players with eight goals or more. Kirk, a senior forward, leads the team with 30----13 more than the next-closest player in the tournament.

“We just have to do the best job at doing what we do best,” said CSUN Coach Marwan Ass’ad, whose team has won seven games in a row. “Nothing fancy, just play our game.”

One of the keys for CSUN will be stopping Tampa forward Chris Sullivan, who leads the Spartans with 13 goals. Sullivan played with Kirk on a team that competed in South Korea last summer.

But the biggest obstacles for the Matadors are sweeper Jorgen Petersson (5-11) and defenders Jorgen Adolfsson (6-2) and Thomas Hogstedt (6-2). The Swedish trio is backed by goalie Frank Arlasky, who has a goals-against average of .68.

Tampa’s Swedish connection began with Peter Johansson, a Tampa assistant coach who was a member of Tampa’s 1981 national championship team.

“The good thing about the Swedes is they’re good players plus they’re all on President’s scholarships, which means they have a 3.5 grade average or better,” Tampa Coach Tom Fitzgerald said. “Ever since Peter was here we’ve had three or four on our roster every year.”

Tampa also has two players from Southern California, midfielders John Clarke from Redondo Beach and Robert Bent from Ventura.