CCAA SOCCER PREVIEW : Northridge Might Find Company in Race for Conference Crown

The race for the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. soccer championship will feature a new and unusual element this season: competition.

Cal State Northridge, which has laid undisputed claim to 4 consecutive CCAA titles, is once again expected to make a run for the championship. This time, however, it will not be the unchallenged cruise it has been in the past.

While Northridge lost its top 4 scorers and the nucleus that helped lead the Matadors to the NCAA Division II championship game against Southern Connecticut last season, every other team in the conference has improved. Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal Poly Pomona, Chapman and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo are all considered title contenders.

“For the first time ever, there isn’t one clear-cut favorite,” Bakersfield Coach Simon Tobin said. “Last year, Northridge could dominate everyone, including a lot of Division I teams. This season, everyone in the conference is capable of beating somebody else.”

Indeed, Bakersfield is a good example of the change in the CCAA. The Roadrunners had not won a conference game in six years before beating Chapman, 2-1, on Tuesday in their CCAA opener. Tobin, in his second season, has his team off to a 9-0-1 start. Conference coaches must be expecting something because they named Tobin coach of the year last season despite a 4-16-1 overall record and an 0-9-1 finish in conference play.

Northridge was 9-0-1 last season but the Matadors lost to graduation All-American forward Joey Kirk, who scored 30 goals and was the CCAA Most Valuable Player. He is playing this season for the Wichita Wings of the Major Indoor Soccer League.

Also gone are midfielder Rodney Batt (14 goals), forward Juan Florez (10 goals) and midfielder-sweeper Thor Lee (9 goals). Lee also has joined the MISL, with the Los Angeles Lazers.

“This year is the weakest we’ve ever been and probably the weakest we’ll ever be,” said Northridge Coach Marwan Ass’ad, whose team is 6-5 and opens conference play tonight at San Luis Obispo. “No one is conceding the championship like in years past because we’ve lost some games and coaches know that Northridge is not the same team.

“They believe that if they play good, they have a chance to win. In the years past they knew they had to play a great, flawless game to have a chance of beating us.”

Teams will still have their hands full with Northridge, which is ranked 16th in Division II. The Matadors shut out Sacramento State (2-0), The Master’s College (1-0), and Division I Cal State Los Angeles (1-0) and beat NAIA power Westmont (3-1) before losing to 1987 Division I runner-up San Diego State (1-0) on Saturday.

Scott Piri, a redshirt freshman forward from Burroughs High of Ridgecrest, leads the Matadors with 5 goals. Senior midfielder Steve Lazarus already has equaled last season’s output with 4 scores.

Dominguez Hills, ranked 18th, is an early favorite to challenge the Matadors. The Toros are 6-3 under fourth-year Coach Marine Cano and already have bettered last season’s record of 5-10-4.

Dominguez Hills is led by junior forward Willie Ayala, a transfer from Cerritos College who has scored 8 goals. Senior Joe Flanagan, who scored 13 goals last season as a forward, has 4 this season as a midfielder.

Pomona (4-4-3), under sixth-year Coach Otto Rieger, lost its conference opener to San Luis Obispo a few weeks ago, but the Broncos should improve once senior Johnny Lima is healthy. Lima, an all-conference forward who scored 14 goals last season, is recovering from a torn stomach muscle. Sophomore midfielder Alfonso Perez and junior forward Wahyu Tanoto each have 3 goals.

Chapman (5-5 overall, 0-1 in conference play) lost all-conference midfielder Scott McCrimmon and all-conference forward Rick Snyder to graduation. Senior forward Mauricio Musiet leads a team that began the season with 6 freshmen starters.

San Luis Obispo finished 8-1-1 in conference play last season and advanced, for the first time, to the NCAA playoffs, where the Mustangs lost to Seattle Pacific. Senior forward Dan Campbell and junior goalkeeper Harry Crouch could lead their team to another playoff appearance, this time as the top team from the CCAA.