COLLEGES / ALAN DROOZ

Bruin Soccer Tourney Will Hold Key to National Title

Anyone looking for an early line on the finals of the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. men’s soccer finals should keep an eye on the fifth annual UCLA/Met Life Classic that opens tonight at El Camino College.

The four-team field features three teams in the Top 20. And three times in the tournament’s history one has advanced to the NCAA final. Host UCLA in 1985 and Duke in 1986 won national titles. And the Met Life tournament has produced a Final Four participant each year. Bruin Coach Sigi Schmid is “pleased with the field. This is definitely the premier tournament this weekend--and maybe this month--in the country.”

Schmid said the field was attractive enough to move Friday’s opening doubleheader to the South Bay. Sunday’s final will be played at UCLA’s North Field.

“All four teams will be aiming to improve their playoff chances, so the intensity and quality of soccer will be quite high,” Schmid said. “We decided to have the first round at El Camino College because we feel we can draw a better crowd on a Friday night.”

The opening matchups pit No. 11 Rutgers (12-1) against 16th-ranked San Diego State (10-3-1) at 6 and No. 3 UCLA (12-1-1) against Wisconsin-Green Bay (9-6-1) at 8. On Sunday, San Diego and Green Bay will face off at noon and UCLA will play Rutgers at 2.

The Bruins, who have won two of the four Met Life titles and tied for another, were ranked No. 1 nationally until last week when they were upset by San Diego State, 3-2, in overtime. The three goals were more than UCLA goalkeeper Anton Nistl Jr. had allowed all season.

UCLA has remained afloat despite the loss for the season of All-American forward Billy Thompson, and Schmid said he is pleased to be ranked in the top three with a revamped lineup.

The Bruins have had luck at El Camino, winning three games in Murdock Stadium this fall. In the only Friday night contest, Schmid said, they drew 1,500. For several of the Bruins it’s something of a homecoming. Schmid, former coach at Bishop Montgomery, lives in Torrance and has three Torrance natives playing regularly this season--Chris Roosen, Dana Keir and Ray Fernandez. Fernandez, the tournament’s MVP in 1986, has three goals this season, all scored at El Camino.

“It’s been a great field for Ray,” Schmid said. “He’s scored in every game. We’re hoping to keep that streak alive. And two of those three goals have been great goals, extraordinary. Two were left-footed, his off-foot.”

Keir, a defender converted to forward due to teammates’ injuries, has scored more goals this season (four) than in two previous years on defense.

This weekend, Schmid said, Keir will return to defense but is expected to continue to contribute offensively now that he has the feel. “He was definitely a key for us in the early part of the season when we had all those injuries up front,” Schmid said.

Several players from the other teams have Southland ties. San Diego’s top scorers, Marcello Balboa and Eric Wynalda, are from Cerritos and Westlake Village, respectively. The Aztecs’ No. 3 scorer, Jeff Betts, played with some of the Bruins on the West team in the Sports Festival.

Another outstanding player is Rutgers forward Leno Dicuollo.

Tonight’s program will also feature several North Torrance youth soccer teams playing before the college games and during intermissions.

In all, it should be a soccer junkie’s dream.

Cal State Dominguez Hills has applied to be the site for the NCAA Division II women’s soccer championship. Unfortunately, Toros Coach Marine Cano feels, the women didn’t apply themselves Tuesday and were whipped by Division I power UC Santa Barbara, 4-1.

Going into Saturday’s game against Chapman, the Lady Toros are 14-2 and both losses are to Santa Barbara. Cano felt his team had to have a competitive game Tuesday to impress the NCAA selection committee.

It’s an understatement to say Cano didn’t feel his team played well. “We stunk--no, think of a word stronger than stink and that is how we played,” the agitated coach said.

Cano fears that despite the Lady Toros’ 14-0 record against everyone but Santa Barbara, the NCAA selection committee might be tempted to pick defending national champ Cal State Hayward if it finishes strongly. “This really puts a damper on our chances,” Cano said.

He figures the way to ensure a playoff bid is to win the last four games impressively, starting with Saturday’s 11 a.m. home game against Chapman. The Lady Toros close out their home schedule Monday against Azusa Pacific, an NAIA school, then finish on the road at Cal Poly Pomona and San Diego State.

Cano said Chapman “is a big one. We have got to pound some big goals, I mean pound some big goals.”

Santa Barbara just seems to have Dominguez Hills’ number. The Toros have given up seven goals to Santa Barbara in the two losses while the other 14 opponents have scored only four times. On Tuesday, the Toros held Santa Barbara scoreless in the second half but were soundly outplayed, getting outshot, 18-5. In the second half, Cano inserted some substitutes for season-long starters.

“We cannot lose another game this year,” Cano said. “We have some starters who think that they are playing well, and they’re not.”

Ratings Game: So far, Loyola Marymount is picked in every preseason poll but one to win the West Coast Conference basketball title. The one exception is Dick Vitale’s Basketball ‘89-90 magazine, which selects Pepperdine. However, showing the ability to go both ways, Vitale’s magazine rates Loyola No. 48 in its top 50 and doesn’t rank Pepperdine.

Midnight, it was. Madness, it wasn’t. Picking up on an idea used at colleges around the country to start basketball practice at the first stroke of Oct. 15--the official start of practice allowed by the NCAA--Loyola Marymount women’s basketball Coach Todd Corman held his first practice at midnight Saturday. At hoops hotbeds such as Kentucky, it’s called Midnight Madness. At Loyola, Corman found his team more ready for bed than basketball. “I’ll never do that again,” he said, shaking his head. “By 1 o’clock, (the players) couldn’t run a break.”

College Notes: Dominguez Hills soccer forward Kaveh Razaghi continues to lead the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. in scoring with 19 points . . . Loyola catcher Miah Bradbury and first baseman/outfielder Joe Ciccarella are on a U.S. Federation baseball team playing in the Presidential Cup in Taiwan on Oct. 31 to Nov. 12. Also on the 20-man squad is Pepperdine outfielder Jalal Leach. The international tourney, also including teams from Canada, the Netherlands, Japan, Korea, the Philippines and Spain, is a prelude to next summer’s Goodwill Games . . . The seventh annual Tom Higgins Golf Classic will be played Nov. 6 to benefit the Loyola Marymount golf team. Golfing begins at 11 a.m. at Hacienda Golf Club in La Habra. Entry fee is $250. For information, call the Rev. Tom Higgins at 642-1801.

Times Staff Writer Paul McLeod contributed to this column.