Moore Still Letting His Feet Do the Talking : Soccer: Midfielder led Mission Viejo to Southern Section title in 1989. Now, the redshirt freshman helps UCLA reach final four.

Joe-Max Moore, the playmaking midfielder for UCLA’s soccer team, is not exactly a chatter box.

Maybe Moore figures he’d rather let others stick their feet in their mouths--he’ll just put his on the ball.

Ask him for a bit of self-evaluation, and he evades the question for fear of sounding conceited. But if Moore could toss his modesty aside for a minute, here are a few things he might want you to know:

--He ranks second on the team in goals scored (11) and points (32) behind Billy Thompson (18 and 43).

--Six of his goals have been game-winners.

--He is in a three-way tie for the team lead in assists (10).

--He had three assists and a goal in single games twice this year.

--He is first in minutes played with 2,126.

Not bad for a veteran, but even more impressive when you consider that Moore is a 19-year-old redshirt freshman on a talented team that opens play Saturday against North Carolina State in a semifinal of the NCAA soccer final four at Tampa, Fla.

The Bruins (17-4) advanced this season as the West Regionals champion by defeating San Diego State, 2-1, and Southern Methodist, 2-0. Moore scored the winner against San Diego State in overtime.

“I think we’ll do well,” Moore said. “We have a very good chance of winning. If we all come to play, we’ll be hard to beat.”

Showing up has never been a problem for Moore. And becoming a standout once he gets there hasn’t been, either.

Moore gained recognition while at Mission Viejo High School, where he had 25 goals and 14 assists in his senior season, 1988-89. He led the Diablos to the Southern Section 3-A title with a 2-1 victory over Santa Barbara, scoring the winning goal in overtime. He was an first-team all-section selection and The Times’ Orange County edition player of the year.

In all, Moore had 64 goals and 56 assists at Mission Viejo and Woodbridge, where he played in his freshman and sophomore years.

Those kinds of numbers can prompt college recruiters to camp on your front lawn. But though UCLA Coach Sigi Schmid never went to those lengths, in Moore he landed one of the hottest prospects in the country.

“He’s the kind of player who makes things happen on the field,” Schmid said. “Technically, he’s very sound. He’s basically two-footed, which a lot of players aren’t. And he’s able to dribble and pass the ball well. He’s able to control the ball and put the ball where he wants it.”

The decision to attend UCLA was fairly clear-cut for Moore. He wanted to remain close to home and play for an academically sound school with a successful Division I soccer program. He resides in an off-campus apartment with teammates Mike Lapper, a former Marina High School defender; Sam George, a former Mater Dei midfielder; and Chris Henderson.

Once at UCLA, Moore sat out his first year because the Bruins were overloaded at midfield and Schmid wanted him to get acclimated to the college environment. But Moore cracked Schmid’s lineup this season as an offensive midfielder. It’s a position he apparently can handle well at any level, though it didn’t take long for Moore to notice the differences between high school and college soccer.

“Physically, there’s more required (of you),” said Moore, an Oklahoma native who moved to Orange County in his early teens. “The tempo of the game is faster, there’s more tackling. There’s more skill involved. All the players are so good.”

But Moore, who at 5 feet 8, 145 pounds might seem somewhat frail for the rigors of a perpetual motion sport, has obviously made a smooth adjustment. He has heard the doubting comments about his size but dismisses them.

“I don’t think it’s a factor,” said Moore, who in January will participate in a developmental camp for players hoping to make the 1992 U.S. Olympic team. If he makes that team, he would like to take the next step, playing on the host U.S. team in the 1994 World Cup.

“It’s definitely one of my goals as a soccer player,” Moore said. “Hopefully (the U.S. team) can keep getting better and progressing.”

For now, though, Moore hopes UCLA can reach the NCAA championship match on Sunday against the winner of the game between top-ranked Evansville and Rutgers. The Bruins would be seeking their first national championship since 1985.

“We’ve had a great season,” Moore said. “Our goal was to be in the final four and we’ve made it. There’s two more games. We need to go all out.”

Nobody has to encourage Moore to do that. That’s how he gets his messages across.