CSUN’s Kirk, Lee Taken in MISL Draft

Joey Kirk and Thor Lee of Cal State Northridge were chosen within the first three rounds of the Major Indoor Soccer League college draft Friday.

Kirk, a four-year starter from Granada Hills who set CSUN single-season and career records for goals (30 and 59) and points (77 and 162), was taken by the Minnesota Strikers in the first round, the ninth pick overall.

Lee, a fullback from Newbury Park who was at draft headquarters in Cleveland when the selections were made, was chosen by the L. A. Lazers in the third round as the 30th pick overall. Lee was in Cleveland participating in the Budweiser Indoor Classic, a series of exhibition games involving the nation’s best collegiate players.

Kirk, a forward and two-time member of the U. S. national team, is currently in Seoul competing in the President’s Cup tournament.

He was selected California Collegiate Athletic Assn. Player of the Year in 1986 and ’87. Northridge was 79-15-11 during Kirk’s past three seasons, including a 38-1-5 mark at North Campus Stadium.

Kirk was the only first-round pick from a West Coast school. Of the 44 players selected Friday, UCLA’s Jeff Hooker--also chosen by the Lazers, in the second round as the 20th pick overall--was the only player other than Kirk and Lee selected from a Los Angeles-area school.

Kirk and Lee led Northridge, the CCAA champion, to the Division II final, in which the Matadors lost to Southern Connecticut. Only North Carolina State, a Division I school that had three players chosen, including No. 1 selection Tab Ramos, had more players drafted than Northridge.