Achieving Sundry Goals a Snap for Wackerman : College soccer: Cal Lutheran sophomore with uncanny knack for scoring already has cracked the NCAA career list.

In soccer terms, Rachel Wackerman would not be called a juggler, a dribbler or even a finesse player.

She is not, to put it simply, an unusually skilled player. To use the vernacular, however, she is a goalie’s worst nightmare.

With her sophomore season at Cal Lutheran winding to a close, Wackerman, a forward, is already one of the NCAA’s top career scorers.

She is tied for 10th place, having scored 63 goals in 36 matches. Amy Jackson scored the same number of goals in 76 matches for New Hampshire College from 1983-86.

Wackerman scored 33 goals this season and led the Regals to a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship and a berth in the NCAA Division III playoffs. Cal Lutheran (16-3) will play Kalamazoo (Mich.) College (15-1-1) at 11 a.m. today in first-round action at UC San Diego in La Jolla.

Wackerman’s ability to score is especially perplexing because Wackerman rarely seems to have possession of the ball. Nor does she show great ability with a ball at her feet. Unless, of course, she happens to be standing in front of the goal.

“I just run,” Wackerman said. “That’s mostly what I’ve concentrated on.”

George Kuntz, Cal Lutheran’s coach, said Wackerman “can run forever.” But the difference, he is quick to add, is that “now she’s developing into a player who can beat people one on one.”

Not that going one on one has ever been of paramount importance to Wackerman, who has been playing soccer since she was 5.

She has the rare ability to see plays develop anywhere on the field, and she capitalizes by moving without the ball to create space and receive passes.

“I really just know the game and where to be,” Wackerman said.

Yards away from the play, Wackerman will find a place on the field and sprint there, leaving less experienced defenders in her wake. Moments later, a teammate’s pass arrives and a shot at the net is hers for the taking.

Wackerman relies on quickness. And her ability? Well, it gets the job done. “I’m not the fastest person,” she said, “but I have some speed.”

Her stamina probably stems from running cross-country and track as a three-sport athlete at South Pasadena High.

A competitive spirit also serves Wackerman well, although she said that she has squelched some of the fire in matches. “I’ve been a lot better this year,” she said. “I try not to get mad at my players. I just get really into the game.”

Wackerman always has thrived on competition. But even though she started at forward as a freshman on South Pasadena’s varsity and was the school’s girl athlete of the year in 1990 as a senior, she never really thought about playing for a top college program.

“It wasn’t a big thing for me,” she said.

By choosing Cal Lutheran, Wackerman picked a program in only its second year of existence; the Regals posted a 5-11-1 record in their inaugural season.

Cal Lutheran also happened to be the only program that recruited her.

Wackerman gained little attention from recruiters partly because a broken leg sidelined her for most of her junior season. “After . . . that injury I honestly thought she never was going to play again,” said Bob Mendoza, then coach at South Pasadena.

As a senior, Wackerman asked to play midfield because she thought the team needed someone to control the game. Still, the position didn’t do her scoring ability justice. Even though South Pasadena won the Southern Section 2-A Division championship in 1990, Wackerman was not recruited by four-year colleges.

Most college coaches look to off-season clubs to find recruits. But Wackerman never had time to play soccer in the off-season because she was busy with cross-country and track.

Wackerman needed to get into a college--preferably a small, private school--and she wanted to play soccer. In that order.

As a Division III school, Cal Lutheran could not offer an athletic scholarship, but Kuntz did offer a chance for her to start as a freshman.

He knew the success of the new women’s soccer program hinged on getting a player to energize and propel a team to a winning season.

And he had that player.

In her freshman season, Wackerman scored 30 goals and led the Regals to a respectable 12-5 record. Other top South Pasadena players followed Wackerman on the road she tarred to Cal Lutheran, including defender Paige Durivage and starting goalkeeper JoAnne Vanderwall.

The Regals dominated the SCIAC this season, their first in the conference. Wackerman recorded five hat tricks and Cal Lutheran scored in double digits in four shutouts against SCIAC teams.

There were, however, some close matches. Wackerman twice led the Regals to hard-fought wins over conference rival Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. In the first matchup, she headed in a high pass in overtime for a 2-1 victory. In the rematch, she had a goal and an assist in a 3-1 win.

Kuntz said that Wackerman has the ability to play Division I or II but in a different role. “If she had sat on the bench for the last two years, would she have gotten the recognition that she has had here?” Kuntz said.

At least Wackerman has had the opportunity to occasionally play against the best. When the Regals faced Division I San Diego State, Wackerman beat Lorena Snyder to give CLU a 1-0 lead on the way to a 3-1 loss.

Wackerman attributes her scoring ability to Kuntz. She also takes soccer more seriously now.

“It’s more a part of my life now than it was in high school,” she said.

In college, Wackerman has played on several area women’s soccer clubs in the off-season, which she said has helped her game.

Yet Wackerman remains a paradox--a player with skills that aren’t exceptional who is a scoring machine.

Kuntz calls her a scoring queen.

A title certainly befitting this particular Regal.