The Colleges : While Stingy CSUN Pursues Record, Opponents Search for 1st Score

Cal State Northridge will bid for a school-record third consecutive shutout when it travels to Rohnert Park, Calif., on Saturday to play a nonconference football game against Sonoma State.

If the Matadors blank the Cossacks it also would equal the record for shutouts in a season, accomplished by the 1977 CSUN squad coached by Jack Elway.

In Elway’s three seasons as coach, from 1975-77, Northridge had five shutouts. In 24 games, Coach Bob Burt’s teams have equaled that total. Actually, his defense has bettered the mark.

Twice in the past two seasons, the only points Northridge allowed came on turnovers. In 1986, Cal State Hayward scored on an interception return for its only points in a 20-7 loss. Last season, Sonoma recovered a CSUN fumble in the end zone for its touchdown in a 13-6 loss.

Correction: It was reported that Northridge this week cracked the Division II top 10 for only the second time in school history.

Not true, says Gary Miereanu, who used to cover the football team for the Sundial, CSUN’s student newspaper.

Northridge vaulted into the top 10 in 1976, Elway’s first season as coach, advancing as high as No. 6. In 1981, CSUN did it again, holding the No. 9 position for two weeks before losing.

In addition, the Matadors were ranked in a tie for No. 8 in 1986 before losing to Cal State Sacramento in their season finale.

The bright side: It wasn’t exactly the kind of debut Pierce Coach Bob Enger was hoping for but it also wasn’t entirely unexpected.

After watching a videotape of the Brahmas’ 20-7 season-opening loss to East Los Angeles on Saturday, Enger said lack of effort was not a problem.

To the contrary . . .

“Some of the problem may have been that be we were trying too hard,” Enger said. “Sometimes, if you have a little bit of problem in one area, kids try to help out. Our discipline broke down.”

Trading places: The Occidental men’s soccer team dropped a match at Colorado College, 4-1, Saturday.

Still, the Tigers, who finished 7-11-1 last season, were pleased with their showing against a team ranked third in the Far West for Division III schools.

There are, however, bugs to be worked out. Little things. Like not scoring goals for the opposition.

Against Colorado, both goals scored on Occidental in the second half were self-inflicted. The first occurred when a Colorado corner kick was accidentally deflected into the Occidental goal by a Tiger defender.

The second goal occurred when an Occidental fullback tried to kick the ball downfield, away from his goal. Instead of clearing the ball, he bounced it off an oncoming Colorado player and into the goal.

Time out: The officials who work Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football games run the gamut as far as experience goes. There are those who normally officiate in the NCAA Division I and others who normally work high school games.

Occidental’s game against Azusa Pacific last Saturday was filled with controversial calls. One official showed his inexperience when he called a penalty at the beginning of the first quarter. He asked the time-keeper to put the “full 12 minutes” back on the clock.

College games have 15-minute quarters as opposed to 12 at the high school level.

Walk-on: Dave Suarez, an All-City outside hitter-setter from Palisades High, has enrolled at Northridge and plans to try out for the men’s volleyball team. Suarez helped Palisades to the City Section 4-A Division title last season.

Injury update: Richard Toll, Cal Lutheran’s top pass rusher, pulled a hamstring muscle in the first quarter against Sonoma State last week and is questionable for Saturday’s game at Cal State Hayward.

The junior defensive lineman was injured on the first series and did not return.

Marcel Sellers, a freshman running back from Birmingham High, is also questionable because of a sprained ankle.

Gym dandys: The Glendale College gym was closed for two weeks so the maintainance department could remove toxic asbestos coating on the building’s pipes. The operation was intended to be quick and unobtrusive. Instead, it was a minor fiasco.

“It’s been quite a hassle,” said Jim Sartoris, Glendale’s athletic director and football coach, who added that after football practice, some of the players were showering in the women’s locker room while others waited until they got home to shower.

But the football players weren’t the only ones scrambling for gym alternatives. The women’s volleyball team has been relegated to practices on the sand courts outside the gym.

“The courts are more like dirt,” Coach Mary Jane Smith said.

But perhaps they should it more often. The volleyball team was 0-17 last season but is off to a 3-1 start.

Sam Farmer and staff writers Mike Hiserman, Gary Klein and Ralph Nichols contributed to this notebook.