COLLEGE ROUNDUP : Failure to Heed Coach’s Advice Costs CSUN

It was one prediction that Marwan Ass’ad wishes had not come true.

All week in practice, Ass’ad, the Cal State Northridge men’s soccer coach, said he told his players what to expect at UC Irvine on Saturday.

Ass’ad warned his team to look for Irvine midfielder John O’Brien if Irvine was ever awarded the ball on a foul kick near the goal, and that scenario led to the Matadors’ downfall.

O’Brien scored on a header off a crossing pass at the 10-minute mark to hand Irvine a 1-0 victory before a crowd of approximately 1,500 in the opener for both teams.

Ass’ad said there would be days like this but, evidently, the players weren’t listening.

“I told them to watch for him,” Ass’ad said of O’Brien. “We even had a debate (during practice) on how he spelled his name. Can you believe that?”

What followed was even more deflating for Northridge.

At the 30-minute mark of the first half, a frenzied scramble for the ball in front of the Irvine net resulted in a short-range--and short-lived--goal from Northridge’s Declan Marmion.

The goal was disallowed when Northridge was penalized for pushing a player in the goal area.

Northridge outshot Irvine, 10-3.

In other men’s soccer matches:

Puget Sound 2, The Master’s 1 (2 OTs)--Master’s fell in the second 15-minute overtime period in its season opener in the four-team Redwood tournament at Humboldt State in Arcata.

Master’s forward Momir Horvatek scored at the 75-minute mark of the match to tie the score, 1-1.

Sophomore goalkeeper Brian Crosson recorded eight saves for Master’s, which will play Humboldt State today at 2 p.m.

Cal Lutheran 0, Chapman 0 (OT)--Despite an overtime period, the match at Cal Lutheran ended in a scoreless tie in the opener for both teams.

WOMEN’S SOCCER

Cal Lutheran 3, Chapman 1--Stephanie Gainey scored two goals and teammate Rachel Wackerman added another as Cal Lutheran won at home in its opener.

MEN’S WATER POLO

Valley College was unbeaten in three matches and finished third in the eight-team Ventura tournament.

Valley defeated El Camino, 16-9, and tied Chaffey (11-11) and Santa Monica (7-7).

Robert Brown, a sophomore from Burbank High, scored 12 goals in the tournament for Valley. Steve Barron, a freshman from Notre Dame, added nine goals.

Ventura placed fifth.