SOCCER PREVIEW CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE : Team Short in Experience but Optimism High

The Cal State Northridge men’s soccer team will open the season tonight without its leading scorer from the past two seasons and with four new defenders.

In addition, a dominant goaltender has yet to establish himself, but 10th-year coach Marwan Ass’ad remains upbeat.

“I love this team,” Ass’ad said. “We only have five returning starters, but it is not so much how many are coming back, but those who are coming back got so much better in the spring and summer.”

Northridge, 13-6-1 last year, will play host to Cal State Dominguez Hills at 7 tonight at North Campus Stadium.

Ass’ad also is enthusiastic about freshmen Ronnie Lou, Ross Linhart and Cam Ilfrey, who will start at defender with junior college transfer Todd Biefeld.

“They’re only 17 years old, but they can really play the game,” Ass’ad said of the three freshmen.

The back four were Ass’ad’s biggest concern over the summer, but after watching them in a 1-0 win over San Diego State in a scrimmage Tuesday, his worries have been allayed. “They played great the other day,” Ass’ad said. “They played like a team, like a cohesive unit. They were very tight.”

Senior Adolfo Perez, juniors Teddy Davila and Armando Valdivia, and sophomore Ronnie Simpson are the starting midfielders.

Perez, Davila and Valdivia, the Three Amigos in the Mexican Connection, as Ass’ad affectionately calls them, were either full-time or part-time starters last year.

Valdivia was second in scoring, totaling 27 points on eight goals and 11 assists. “(Perez, Davila and Valdivia are) the three hardest working players on the team,” Ass’ad said. “Every one of them is at least two times better at this point than they were a year ago.”

Senior Danny Daniels, the leading scorer last year with 32 points (13 goals, six assists) and in 1990 with 25 points (10 goals, five assists), and junior Dominic Zapata were expected to start at forward.

Daniels, however, is not expected to play tonight or in Monday’s home match against The Master’s College after suffering back spasms during practice last week. Scott Hunter, a fifth-year senior, is expected to start in place of Daniels. And Zapata, whose intensity has been criticized by Ass’ad, has been replaced in the lineup by freshman Leon Hudson. “Missing Danny the first couple of games shouldn’t hurt us that much,” Ass’ad said. “But we need to get him back as soon as possible. He’s a great finisher.”

Senior Bobak Kalhor, junior Louie Mata and sophomore Travis Harding are battling for the starting goalie position.

This season, Northridge’s third at the NCAA Division I level, will be the Matadors’ first in the newly formed Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, which includes teams formerly associated with the Pacific 10, Western Athletic and Big West conferences, as well as former independents Northridge and Cal State Sacramento.

The federation will be split into two eight-team divisions for soccer.

The Pacific division includes Northridge, UCLA, San Diego State, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, Nevada Las Vegas, New Mexico and Cal State Fullerton.

The Northern division consists of Stanford, California, Washington, Oregon State, Fresno State, San Jose State, Air Force and Sacramento.

Although division winners are not guaranteed an automatic berth in the 32-team Division I playoffs, Ass’ad is confident the top two finishers in each division will qualify.