Northridge Men’s Soccer Team Will Set Out on Schedule’s Long Road

Home games on the 1998 Cal State Northridge men’s soccer schedule are designated by capital letters, but they’re still tough to find.

That’s because the Matadors host only five of their 17 games. Northridge will be the visitor in its first nine games before playing Master’s at North Campus Stadium on Oct. 7.

In addition, one of the Matadors’ home games, against UC San Diego on Nov. 7, is tentatively scheduled for Moorpark High, the result of a scheduling conflict with the Northridge football team.

The soccer team will be on the road again and again, but Coach Marwan Ass’ad, in his 15th year with the Matadors, remains eternally optimistic.

“We’re going to win on the road and when we do come back in October, the fans are going to be so hungry to see us play,” Ass’ad said. “We’ll have been in the papers a lot of times and it’s going to be great.”

Ass’ad’s team, 7-11-1 last season, has received most of its recent press for being on the chopping block.

Last year, the soccer team and three other men’s programs were temporarily dropped because of budget and gender-equity concerns. After several months, the soccer team was reinstated for the 1997 season. In December, a task force on Northridge athletics recommended the program be maintained for the foreseeable future.

But by then, the Matadors were not included in 1998 soccer schedules for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, the conference in which they had competed for six years.

Ass’ad had to beg other college coaches for games, resulting in Northridge’s upcoming odyssey. Conference officials have said Northridge will rejoin the MPSF in 1999, but for now, the Matadors face an almost impossible task to make the NCAA playoffs as a Division I independent.

Mark Fitzpatrick, a junior defender and one of Northridge’s top players, is not looking forward to the team’s travels.

“I’m pretty bummed about it,” Fitzpatrick said. “[Trips] aren’t that bad if you get there the day before. But when you pull up in a van just before a game after driving for hours, it’s just horrible.”

Fitzpatrick said other factors, such as pregame meals and fan support, are lacking on the road.

“You can’t do what you want when you want to do it, and you miss out on your studies as well,” he said. “I really enjoy the home games because we get all the little kids out there. When I was their age, going to Northridge games was a big deal to me, so not having them around will be a bummer.”

Ass’ad refuses to acknowledge the negative aspects of what resembles a barnstorming tour.

“This is the hand we were dealt and I’m just looking forward to having a lot of fun,” he said. “This is a primarily junior team, and junior teams are exciting.”

Junior forward Mike Preis said the team can finally concentrate on soccer after weathering recent difficulties.

“Last year it seemed like there was so much going on and our focus wasn’t only on playing,” Preis said. “It’s like that saying, ‘When life gives you lemons, make lemonade’ has become our motto.”

Northridge was 1-6-1 on the road last season, when it got off to a 1-9 start. It was Ass’ad’s third losing season, each in the last four years.

Northridge’s hopes this season are mostly riding on junior forwards Preis, Federico Arroyo and Pat Russo.

Preis, Chatsworth High’s career scoring leader, led the Matadors in scoring as a freshman with seven goals and earned All-MPSF honors. Last season, he scored only three goals.

Arroyo, a Van Nuys High graduate and one of eight returning starters, was Northridge’s best player last season. He led the team with 11 goals and nine assists and was selected all-conference.

Russo, a Moorpark High graduate and former youth club player for Ass’ad, played at Ohio Wesleyan as a freshman and at Moorpark College last season.

“I will take those three up front against any five defenders anywhere,” Ass’ad said. “That’s why our midfield is not going to have pressure to hold onto the ball. They just have to play great defense and serve the ball up to those guys.”

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Northridge Men’s Soccer Schedule

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Date Opponent Time 9-4 at San Jose State 7:30 p.m. 9-13 at Cal State Fullerton 4 p.m. 9-18 Michigan State # 5 p.m. 9-20 San Diego # 3:30 p.m. 9-22 at San Diego State 4 p.m. 9-25 at UC Irvine 7 p.m. 9-27 St. Mary’s @ 1 p.m. 10-1 Santa Clara % 7 p.m. 10-3 San Francisco % 5 p.m. 10-7 Master’s 7 p.m. 10-10 at Loyola Marymount 2 p.m. 10-14 at UC Santa Barbara 7 p.m. 10-17 San Diego 7 p.m. 10-20 Cal State San Bernardino 7 p.m. 10-31 Cal State Sacramento 7 p.m. 11-7 UC San Diego * 7 p.m. 11-13 at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 5:30 p.m.

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# San Diego tournament

@ At University of San Diego (neutral site match)

% Santa Clara tournament

* At Moorpark High