CSUN’s Timing Off in Soccer Forfeit

Cal State Northridge’s soccer team arrived 25 minutes late for its third-place match against Seattle Pacific in the Far West Classic at Cal State Chico and had to forfeit the match Saturday.

The match originally was scheduled for 12:30 p.m., but it had been moved to noon in order to facilitate later games. CSUN Coach Marwan Ass’ad said he was unaware of the change. The Matadors arrived at the venue at 12:25, 10 minutes beyond the grace period outlined by National Collegiate Athletic Assn., rules.

“I explained to them that we are humans and make mistakes,” Ass’ad said. “I kept saying, ‘Let’s play, let’s play.’ ”

CSUN’s record is 1-2, the two losses matching last season’s total when the Matadors were NCAA Division II runners-up.

Ass’ad, however, found some good in the misfortune.

“This will bring the team much closer,” he said. “We feel now everybody’s trying to beat us, everybody’s against us. We’ve had some success, and now nobody likes CSUN.”