CSUN’s Trice Hopeful He Can Quicken Pace

At the beginning of the season, tailback Robert Trice stated his goal was to gain 1,500 yards. Two games into a 10-game season Trice has been limited to 141 yards, an average of 70.5 a game, hardly a 1,500-yard pace.

Although Trice has shown bursts of speed and the ability to get around end against the San Diego State and Weber State defenses, that explosiveness has been limited to the first half of each game.

“I don’t know what it is,” Trice said. “More carries would help, of course; you get a better feel for the defense. And I could be doing more. I thought I was doing my best, but you can always do better.”

Trice is averaging 17 carries and the Matadors are averaging 45 passes.

“We’ve been behind in the second half of both games so we’ve had to throw the ball more,” Trice said.

As one of the team’s offensive leaders, he concedes the offense knows it has not held up its end in losses to San Diego State (34-17) and Weber State (27-12).

“There’s a sense of urgency there,” he said. “It’ll take time for the new quarterbacks to jell, but we’ll be all right. Our offensive line is doing well, they never make it into the paper unless they are doing bad.”

CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE

Quick Learner

John Herrera is relatively slow and at 6-feet-1, 205 pounds, relatively small to play inside linebacker at Northridge. But Herrera won the starting position in fall camp and earned defensive player-of-the-week honors for his 12 tackles against Weber State.

A week earlier, Herrera was so excited about starting he was afraid to make mistakes against San Diego State. He made only three tackles. “I was tentative, waiting for the play to develop,” he said.

A quick study, Herrera saw himself on film and made adjustments most players take two to three weeks to make, defensive coordinator Mark Banker said.

“What I lack in speed and strength I make up for in knowing the (opposition’s) offense,” Herrera said.

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With 10 catches in two games, wide receiver Saadite Green is well ahead of last year’s production--23 catches in eight games. The 6-foot, 180-pound senior enjoys the run-and-shoot offense.

“It’s like you make the decision according to the defense, not a set play, that’s the way I like it,” he said.

Green and fellow wide receiver Victor Prince prepared for the season by running a steep hill in Kenneth Hahn Park in the Baldwin Hills area. “I called it Sweet Jesus,” Green said. “It got me ready.”

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The Matadors will not use their double tight-end formations for the next three weeks while tight end Chris Fregeau is sidelined because of a stress fracture in his left foot. With Fregeau absent, Travis Hall, a sophomore from Chaminade High, is the only tight end on the team. Coach Bob Burt has no plans to convert players to tight end. The Matadors use the run-and-shoot, with four wide receivers and no tight end, 70% of the time.

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We have heard of jet lag. But bus lag?

Soccer Coach Marwan Ass’ad said the Matadors were suffering from it last Friday during a 4-0 loss to Fresno State.

“We had dead legs, no explosiveness,” Ass’ad said. “We were not dangerous going to their goal.”

Ass’ad blamed Northridge’s listless play in part on a long and hot bus ride to Cal State Fullerton on the afternoon of the match.

So, on Sunday, when the Matadors played Washington in the final round of the Titan Classic, team members drove their own air-conditioned cars.

The result: Northridge played the No. 5 Huskies tough before losing, 2-1.

“We played on Sunday a team that was, on paper, better than Fresno State,” Ass’ad said. “And we could have won. We should have won.”

The Matadors outshot Washington, 8-1, in the first half but did not score. Twice, forward Keith West got off shots that glanced off the goal post.

“We had great chances, but we couldn’t score,” Ass’ad said. “If we played like that on Friday, who knows?”

JUNIOR COLLEGES

Waiting Game

Ventura water polo Coach Larry Baratte, whose team launched the season with three victories last week, is waiting to see how the Pirates will fare in the state rankings that will be released today.

The Pirates, led by Pedro DeLima and Paul Krueger, won the Ventura tournament by beating Chaffey, 12-8; El Camino, 10-8, and Citrus, 11-10. Chaffey was ranked 20th in the state preseason poll, and Citrus was ranked seventh. Ventura was not ranked.

DeLima, a freshman driver from Brazil, scored 21 goals in the three matches and Krueger, an All-Western State Conference goalie last season, made 76 saves.

Ventura will face Grossmont in the one-day, six-team Ventura tournament today. The Pirates will play in the Wells Invitational at Cuesta on Friday and Saturday.

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There were only nine penalties called in the football game between Antelope Valley and Valley on Saturday, but that didn’t keep the game from dragging in the second half.

The scoreboard clock malfunctioned several times, forcing delays while it was reset and leading to a couple of heated protests by Antelope Valley Coach Brent Carder who argued that too much time had been taken off the clock when it was reset.

Unfortunately for Carder the scoreboard had no trouble tabulating the points: Valley 28, Antelope Valley 23.

Around the Campuses . . .

* Valley quarterback Sean Fitzgerald was chosen as one of the state players of the week after completing 18 of 24 passes for 196 yards and two touchdowns in the Monarch victory over Antelope Valley.

* Matt George, a former kicker at Canyon High, connected on five extra points and a record-tying 53-yard field goal in the second quarter of Palomar’s 40-0 nonconference victory over Pierce on Saturday in San Marcos. The field goal equaled the school record set by Randy Johnson against Riverside College in 1974.

* Moorpark, which will open its 1993 schedule Saturday at home against Desert, is ranked ninth in the most-recent junior college state rankings. Glendale (1-0) follows at No. 10 and Valley (1-0) is No. 18.

* Debbie Bueche-Smith set a school record with 12 assisted blocks in CSUN’s 12-15, 15-17, 15-2, 16-14, 15-10 loss to the host Aztecs in the championship match of the San Diego State ASICS Grand Prix. Kathleen Dixon and Debbie Wooldridge shared the previous record.

Staff writers Fernando Dominguez, Mike Hiserman, Theresa Smith Munoz and John Ortega contributed to this notebook.