Northridge Puts On Quite an Exhibition

The UCLA-USC rivalry might be one of the nation’s greatest in college football, but there is no comparison between the schools when the sport is soccer.

Cal State Northridge proved that in resounding fashion Saturday night, whipping the Trojans, 5-0, in an exhibition soccer match before 851 onlookers at North Campus Stadium. The Matadors lost to UCLA, 2-1, in an exhibition opener a week ago.

Northridge, runner-up in the past two NCAA Division II championships, dominated play against USC, a club team, outshooting the Trojans, 26-0.

Five Matadors scored goals, including Haaratch (Danny) Daniels, a freshman from Nicosia, Cyprus, who capped the Northridge scoring on an assist from Andy Torres at the 85:38 mark.

USC goalkeeper Joe Livengood had blocked Torres’ penalty shot from the left side, but Daniels was there to convert the rebound.

Teammate Jim Hofferber had given the Matadors a 4-0 lead 10 minutes earlier when he headed in Daniels’ corner kick off the left goal post.

Despite the victory, Northridge Coach Marwan Ass’ad was disappointed with his team’s performance.

“We didn’t play well,” Ass’ad said. “I didn’t like what I saw. We still miss Scott Piri a lot.

“USC brought us down to their level tonight.”

Piri, a sophomore from Burroughs High in Ridgecrest and the Matadors’ leading scorer last season, suited up for Saturday’s match but did not play because of a groin injury. Piri also missed the UCLA match.

“When Scott returns we will be much better,” Ass’ad promised. “He makes everyone else play better.”

Piri is expected to be in the lineup for Friday night’s regular-season opener against Division I Cal State Los Angeles. But he wasn’t needed against USC.

With the Northridge defense--led by midfielder Ed Burns--smothering the USC attack, goalkeepers Mike Littman and Mike Gonzalez weren’t required to make a save.

Meanwhile, the Northridge offense spent most of the evening running a variety of plays at USC’s end of the field.

“Some people on our defense played very well tonight,” Ass’ad said. “But some of them are faster learners than others. We still have a lot of work.”

The first half was a precursor of things to come as Northridge took a 3-0 lead by outshooting the Trojans, 13-0.

Freshman Roberto Guerrero’s unassisted goal gave Northridge a 3-0 lead at the 36:55 mark and came after scores by sophomore Roberto Reyes (29:07) and senior Bill Durkin (12:22).

Durkin scored on a header off Torres’ corner kick to easily beat USC goalkeeper Mark Nevins, and Terry Davila fed Reyes with a pass that left him in a one-on-one situation against Nevins.