According to Plan : Lazarus of CS Northridge Measures Every Step On and Off Soccer Field

As a student majoring in accounting and acting as vice president of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and captain of the Cal State Northridge soccer team, Steve Lazarus keeps a full calendar.

Always, it seems, there is somewhere Lazarus must be, some commitment demanding his presence or attention.

But he’s not complaining.

“The more things I accomplish, the happier I get,” he said. “I enjoy being busy and getting things done.”

In his senior year, Lazarus has been a whirl of activity for the Matadors, who have forced the walking-and-talking Filofax to keep a few dates open in December for a possible return trip to the NCAA Division II Final Four.

Northridge, which lost in the championship game in 1987, rallied from a slow start this season to win a share of its fifth consecutive California Collegiate Athletic Assn. title. And at 7:30 tonight at North Campus Stadium, the 12th-ranked Matadors will meet seventh-ranked Cal State Hayward in the opening round of the NCAA Western regional.

“Laz is one of the best players we have ever had at Northridge,” Matador Coach Marwan Ass’ad said. “When he came here he didn’t know he was going to be good. His interest was more like a hobby. Now, he knows what he wants to do.”

And where he wants to do it. And at which time. And . . .

“Steve is an organizational machine,” fraternity brother Chris Chudacoff said. “Everything in his life is organized and planned out.”

Everything, however, is not strictly business with Lazarus, who pencils himself in for a Tuesday night session of roller-skating every week. The hobby grew out of Lazarus’ days as a roller hockey player--a game that helped him hone his field sense in soccer.

“The thing I loved about hockey was that you had to be so precise with the puck,” said Lazarus, who was born in Montreal. “You have to be aware of passing it to the right place to be received, otherwise it’s a wasted pass. In soccer, it’s roughly the same thing.”

Lazarus’ offensive abilities emerged this season after he spent 3 years in relative obscurity as a talented but low-profile sweeper on teams that featured pyrotechnic scoring stars. He had 10 goals and 6 assists for a 1988 team dominated by underclassmen and was voted CCAA Player of the Year.

His transition from defender to attacker was eased by the years spent practicing against players such as Joey Kirk, an All-American forward who scored 30 goals last season for CSUN.

“You could tell Laz wanted to learn things,” said Kirk, who plays for the Wichita Wings of the Major Indoor Soccer League. “He would always ask, ‘How did you do that? How did you set him up there?’ ”

Said Lazarus: “If you’re a good defender, you’re constantly thinking about what the player you’re covering is thinking about. I was always in Joey’s mind. I felt like a forward because you have to do what he’s going to do.”

Lazarus’ family moved to California when he was 2 and he began developing his skills when he was 9. He competed on club teams that participated in several international tournaments and arrived at Saugus High with impressive credentials. That didn’t do him much good, though, when he tried out for the school’s soccer team.

“The coach’s criterion for making the team was whether or not you could run a 6-minute mile,” he said. “I didn’t have a prayer.”

Lazarus made the Saugus team as a sophomore--playing for 1 of 4 different coaches who ran the program during his high school years--and played sweeper or forward for 3 years on teams that stood out only for their inability to win.

“I was hidden in the catacombs,” Lazarus said of his anonymity with college coaches.

Lazarus considered enrolling at Mission College, but his father persuaded him to call Ass’ad, who asked the would-be walk-on to come by for a short chat.

A very short one. “Are you fast, man?” Ass’ad asked.

“Yeah, I’m fast,” Lazarus said.

“Are you skillful, man?”

“Yeah, I’m skillful.”

“Cool,” said Ass’ad, who told Lazarus to report for workouts.

The thing that stood out about Lazarus during the first day of practice at Northridge was the same thing that got him cut his first year at Saugus--his speed.

Lazarus lined up with about 17 other players who were attempting to make the team and beat them all in a 50-yard sprint.

“I’m not that fast,” Lazarus said. “But I can get a great start.”

Ass’ad stuck Lazarus in the starting lineup at left fullback and soon moved him to sweeper, a position that demands confidence, which suits Lazarus’ personality.

“Laz is very independent and he’s got some ego, which is a compliment,” Ass’ad said. “He takes care of himself and doesn’t let other things influence him. He makes his own decisions.”

Ass’ad was on the receiving end of one of those decisions when Lazarus left the team before the 1987 season because he was unhappy with the size of his scholarship grant. He wrote Ass’ad a note--basically, an ultimatum--and presented it to the coach a few days after fall workouts began.

“I’m quitting,” the note read. “If you want me back, you’ll give me more money and you’ll make me a team captain. If not, enjoy your season and I’ll see you next year.”

Lazarus laughs now, calling it, “a very (gutsy) move.”

But there weren’t many chuckles to be had after his walkout.

A week passed. Then another.

Lazarus found himself sitting in the stands at North Campus Stadium the night Northridge opened its season against UCLA.

“It was like reality hits,” Lazarus said. “I remember thinking, ‘you’re not playing this season, Laz’ .”

After the match, which CSUN lost, 1-0, Lazarus asked Ass’ad for a meeting of the minds. A compromise was reached: Lazarus got more money but no captaincy.

This season, Ass’ad named him captain and Lazarus has emerged as the team’s leader. With 3 trips to postseason play under his belt, Lazarus said he is past the nervousness his younger teammates are sure to feel in the playoffs.

“Our style of play is not Brazilian,” Lazarus said. “It’s not very pretty to watch but it gets the job done, and we’ve been winning.

“We’re the underdogs this year, but I think we’ll be right there.”

At least, that’s the way he’s planning it.