UCLA Subs Pull Rank on CSUN

There will come a time, two years from now to be exact, when a soccer match between Cal State Northridge and UCLA will actually mean something.

CSUN moves to Division I in 1990 and by then, some of the potential the team displayed in an exhibition against the Bruins on Saturday night at North Campus Stadium will have been fully developed.

But for now, UCLA, Division I national champion in 1985 and a quarterfinalist last season, has put CSUN in its place. That place being in Division II, the not-quite-ready for-prime-time players.

The Bruins scored a 4-0 win over the Matadors in front of a crowd estimated at 2,800.

It was UCLA’s fourth consecutive win over Northridge and it came despite the Bruins missing four starters--two with injuries and two with eligibility problems.

All UCLA really needed was forward Bill Thompson.

Thompson, the smallest of Bruins at 5-5, 135 pounds, was a mighty mite against the Matadors. He scored twice and assisted on the other two goals.

“He became a real dangerous threat midway through last season,” UCLA Coach Sigi Schmid said. “It was only a matter of turning that danger into results.

Northridge’s young lineup--the Matadors started five freshman, two sophomores, two juniors and two seniors--simply couldn’t control the fleet-footed junior from Santa Cruz, who is a member of the U. .S. national team.

“Any player, not just a young player, would have trouble getting a hold of him,” Schmid said. “The surest way not to make our team this season was to get matched up against him in practice.”

UCLA led, 1-0, at the half on a Thompson goal 26:20 into the game. He beat defender Bill Durkin on the play, blasting a shot past goalie Jeff Blumkin to score unassisted.

Thompson struck again 3:52 into the second half, banking a shot off the left goal post.

The Bruins blew the match open late with two goals within a three-minute span, both coming against Mike Gonzalez, who replaced Blumkin after he was sidelined by leg cramps.

Reserve forwards Lucas Martin and Nick Skvarna did the scoring honors for UCLA.

“We got humbled, but that’s OK now,” Northridge Coach Marwan Ass’ad said. “It’s good. It’s positive. I’m not down. Fortunately, this game doesn’t count.”

It will, however, be remembered.

“It answered some questions for us,” Ass’ad said. “We know what we have to work on.”

In a word, passing.

“Our passes to the forwards were not accurate, far from it,” Ass’ad said. “The whole team must pass better. We’ve never turned the ball over so much.”

The errant passes gave Ass’ad an opportunity to look at his defense, which spent most of the match backed up against its own goal.

UCLA took 19 shots to only six by Northridge.

Blumkin, a sophomore forced into a starting role due to the ineligibility of Mike Littman, made only three saves but played well enough considering all the action around the CSUN net.

“It seemed like they were coming from everywhere,” Blumkin said. “They were coming right up the middle. It was tough, but that’s the way we find out what we need to work on.

“We’re all young. We’ll get better. We just have some work to do.”