CSUN Won’t Go Under in Overtime, 3-3

Kris Swanson wriggled out of his coach’s doghouse Thursday night and lifted Cal State Northridge to a 3-3 overtime tie with No. 13 Cal State Fullerton in a men’s soccer match.

Swanson, a junior transfer from Mission College, had just two goals entering the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match, but scored in the 114th minute to keep the Matadors’ slim playoff hopes alive.

Fullerton (8-3-2, 2-0-1 in conference) stayed even with UCLA, which beat UC Irvine, 2-1, atop the MPSF’s Pacific Division.

The top team in each of the MPSF’s divisions makes the conference championship match, with the winner qualifying for the NCAA Division I tournament.

A loss would have eliminated the Matadors (4-6-2, 1-2-), but they overcame one-goal deficits at halftime and in overtime.

Swanson made up for several gaffes when he buried the rebound of a shot by Gavin Hewitt. The Granada Hills High graduate was ejected from last Friday’s 5-0 loss to San Francisco and was ineligible for the season’s first two matches because he failed to provide Northridge officials with his complete Mission transcript.

“I’m just glad I came through,” Swanson said. “I had a rough start and wasn’t doing much but now I’m starting to score in good situations.”

Fullerton led, 1-0, at halftime on MPSF scoring leader Sheldon Thomas’ 12th goal.

With two minutes left in the half, Matador Luis Castro and Titan Eugene Brooks were ejected after a scuffle. The teams played short the rest of the way.

Goals by Oswaldo Pina Rivera and Brandon Fonseca in the first 10 minutes of the second half gave Northridge a 2-1 lead.

Fullerton pulled into a 2-2 tie in the 69th minute on a goal by Charlie Lynch and needed only 5 minutes 39 seconds of overtime to move ahead.

Jay Gomez beat a Northridge defender to the ball, staggered through a sliding tackle and sent a crossing pass to Lynch, who scored his fifth goal.

Many of the 518 fans made their way to the exits, but the Matadors continued to race up and down the field.

“Before overtime I told our guys we would score,” Coach Marwan Ass’ad said. “We were looking to score even when we got the ball 40 yards from the goal.”

“Playing 10-on-10 helped us,” Swanson said. “We work well on the sides of the field and when we can spread out. And it helps that we have speed up front.”