The Colleges : Northridge Soccer Team Faces Tough Test in Seattle

Memorial Stadium in Seattle sits in the shadow of the Space Needle, the tower whose likeness adorns nearly every souvenir from the Emerald City.

The Cal State Northridge soccer team will attempt to launch itself into the NCAA Division II Final Four tonight when the 12th-ranked Matadors (16-7) meet third-ranked Seattle Pacific (16-5) in the Western regional final.

Northridge Coach Marwan Ass’ad said that his team can beat the Falcons, who are making their 16th playoff appearance in 17 years, if the Matadors adapt to the stadium’s artificial surface and challenge two-time All-American goalkeeper Jeff Storrs.

“We’re explosive and Astroturf could be to our advantage,” said Ass’ad, whose freshman-dominated team defeated Cal State Hayward, 2-1, in the first round. “But with Storrs, it could very easily go into overtime or penalty kicks.”

Seattle, which won national titles in 1978, ‘83, ’85 and ‘86, has a 28-match home winning streak and has allowed just 3 goals at home all season. Memorial Stadium, site of today’s match, is not the Falcons’ regular-season home, however.

“Northridge comes down the field with speed,” said Seattle Pacific Coach Cliff McCrath, who is in his 19th season at the school. “They take advantage of their personnel as well as anyone.”

Seattle Pacific defeated Northridge, 2-0, in a match in September at North Campus Stadium.

Westlake wonder: The UCLA soccer team (13-4-4), ranked 14th in Division I, travels to second-ranked Portland (19-0) Sunday for a second-round match in the NCAA playoffs.

UCLA freshman Cobi Jones, a starting midfielder from Westlake High, was instrumental in the Bruins’ opening-round win over fifth-ranked San Diego State last week.

Jones, who has 4 goals, contributed his sixth assist of the season on Billy Thompson’s goal that tied the match in the Bruins’ 2-1 win.

Toeing the line: Trent Morgan of Northridge set a Western Football Conference record for punting average in the Matadors’ 35-33 victory over Southern Utah State last Saturday .

Morgan punted 5 times for a 51.8-yard average. The old mark was held by Bryan Wagner, a former CSUN All-American, who punted 10 times for a 49.4 average against Santa Clara in 1983. Wagner now punts for the Chicago Bears.

Morgan led the WFC this season with a 43.5 average on 59 punts.

Statistics: John Bankhead of Cal Lutheran led the Western Football Conference in receiving with 49 catches, 1 more--and in 1 fewer game--than tight end Barry Naone of Portland State. Bankhead’s receptions went for 734 yards, which was second-best in the conference.

Front-runner: Sophomore Melissa Sutton of UCLA led the Bruins to a third-place finish in the NCAA Region 8 cross-country championships in Fresno last Saturday.

Sutton, a former standout at Newbury Park High, placed eighth with a time of 17 minutes, 10 seconds over the 5,000-meter course at Woodward Park as the Bruins scored 95 points, behind Oregon (36) and Cal (50). UCLA received an at-large berth in the NCAA championships. The top 2 teams in Region 8 automatically qualified for the national championships in Ames, Iowa, on Monday.

Sutton, a sophomore, won an unprecedented 3 consecutive Southern Section 4-A Division titles at Newbury Park from 1984-’86.

Times staff writers Gary Klein, Mike Hiserman, Ralph Nichols and John Ortega contributed to this notebook.