Matadors Top Chapman in Playoffs

Cliff McCrath liked what he saw of the Cal State Northridge soccer team Saturday night. Why, he even gave CSUN’s Rodney Batt a standing ovation after the fullback scored his second goal against Chapman College.

“I’ll tell you what, this team has a good understanding of what they’re supposed to do,� McCrath said. “They’re well-coached, well-disciplined and they play at a strong pace.

“That doesn’t happen by mistake.�

It was by no mistake that McCrath, the soccer coach at Seattle-Pacific University, was sitting in the press box, notebook in hand, at Northridge Saturday night.

His Falcons will meet the Matadors next week--at a site yet to be determined--in the second round of the NCAA Division II Far West Soccer Regional. CSUN, the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. champions, disposed of Chapman, 3-0, at North Campus Stadium.

Chapman, the second-place CCAA team, ended its season in decidedly different fashion than that which earned it a playoff berth as a runner-up. The Panthers were out-run, out-shot and, at least until next season, are out of the playoff picture.

Chapman went into the locker room at intermission, down 2-0.

“At halftime, I asked the guys to go out and play all offense,� Chapman Coach Eunice Bobert said. “We had to try and score. If you lose, it doesn’t make a great difference if it’s 2-0 or 8-0. We thought if we could get one goal then we would have a good chance to comeback.�

The odds were against Bobert and Chapman. In the 10 games this season in which the Panthers were down at halftime, they had come back only three times.

The odds were in favor of the Matadors. CSUN has a 24-2-3 record at North Campus Stadium. One win was the CCAA title game, in which Northridge beat Chapman 2-0. The Panthers beat CSUN, 1-0, at Chapman earlier this season, but as every other opponent that visited Northridge this season found out, it’s tough to beat the Matadors on their own turf.

“It’s so great to come out here with playoff fever,� said Frank Cubillos, who scored CSUN’s first goal. “There’s just something about playing here. You can feel it in your bones.�

In the near future, CSUN may be feeling a little chill in their bones. Although the site of the second round hasn’t been picked, an NCAA official at Northridge Saturday hinted that the game would be played at Seattle.

Regardless of the game’s whereabouts--Seattle or the San Fernando Valley--the Matadors will have to play such as they did against Chapman (11-8-1) if they are to knock of the No. 3 team in the country. That means, as CSUN Coach Marwan Ass’ad goes out of his way to say, pressure, pressure, pressure.

“It’s the same thing I have been saying all year, pressure,� Ass’ad said. “And we’re getting better at it. I think the team is getting better on offense and I’m getting better as a coach.

“We hadn’t been complimenting our defense with good offense but tonight we did. That kind of pressure is what we need to beat Seattle-Pacific.�

CSUN put that kind of pressure on Chapman early. Cubillos, whose two goals beat Chapman in the CCAA title game, scored first goal with 20:00 left in the first half. When Chapman decided to sacrifice its defense for an all-out offensive attack, the Matadors easily worked the ball around the front of Chapman’s goal. The Matadors out-shot the Panthers 12-5 before the half.

On the other end of the field, all Chapman could do was kick and pray. CSUN goalkeeper Phil Heaver, the former junior college all-American, recorded his 11th shutout of the season. He can thank defensemen Rick Gora, Scott Murray and Thor Lee.