COLLEGE NOTES : Titan Men’s Soccer Team Fails to Make NCAA Playoffs

Cal State Fullerton’s hopes of reaching the NCAA Division I men’s soccer playoffs for the third consecutive year ended Monday when the selection committee did not give the Titans an at-large berth.

Six teams were chosen from the West, headed by UCLA, which defeated the Titans, 4-0, in the regular season.

UCLA will meet Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the first round of the playoffs. San Diego will meet Santa Clara and Washington takes on Portland.

The Titans finished the regular season 12-8. “We knew it would be close for us, and the selection committee had some difficult decisions to make,” Titan Coach Al Mistri said. “We did very well in our last six games, but I guess it wasn’t good enough.”

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Cal State Fullerton forward John Williams has been ruled eligible for the upcoming basketball season by the NCAA, Coach Bob Hawking said.

The university had asked for clarification of Williams’ status as a transfer because of the brief time he spent at Utah State in the fall of 1994. He left the school because of hardship reasons without attending classes there, Hawking said. He did not play college basketball last season.

Williams had signed a letter of intent with Utah State, but it was voided because of hardship reasons.

“John has been practicing under a cloud of uncertainty for the last month, so we’re happy it has been resolved in our favor,” Hawking said. “We think John is going to be an important player in our program. He’s been very impressive in practice so far.”

Williams played for two seasons for Mt. San Jacinto College in Texas. He averaged 24 points and 12 rebounds his sophomore season.

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The Chapman men’s soccer team will play its NCAA Division III semifinal--and final if necessary--at Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., the NCAA announced.

Saturday, the Panthers (17-3-1) will play Methodist (N.C.) (20-0) in one semifinal. Williams (16-0-1) will play Muhlenberg (Pa.) (16-1-3) in the other. The winners will play Sunday for the title.

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Chelsea Mackey, a center at Clearlake High in Lakeport, Calif., has made an oral commitment to play basketball at UC Irvine, her mother, Karan, said. Mackey, who is 6 feet 3, is also a standout softball pitcher.

Times staff writers Lon Eubanks and Martin Beck contributed to this story.