Scoreless Tie Enhances Northridge Playoff Chances

It will be recorded as an overtime tie, but Cal State Northridge’s scoreless soccer standoff with San Diego State at North Campus Stadium on Wednesday night could help the Matadors when the NCAA Division II playoff pairings are announced next week.

Northridge, winner of five consecutive California Collegiate Athletic Assn. titles, trails Cal Poly San Luis Obispo by one game with one conference match remaining. CSUN can still win the title, however, if San Luis Obispo loses to Cal State Dominguez Hills on Friday and Northridge beats Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday.

A San Luis Obispo win over Dominguez Hills guarantees the Mustangs the CCAA title--and an automatic berth in the Division II playoffs. Even then, Northridge could qualify for an at-large berth if the Matadors beat Bakersfield, which is tied for second with CSUN in the conference standings.

“If we win, there’s a real good chance that we’ll be in the playoffs,” Northridge Coach Marwan Ass’ad said. “If we lose, the season’s over. It’s as simple as that.”

Should Northridge defeat the Roadrunners on Saturday, the tie against San Diego State, the 17th-ranked team in Division I, looms even larger: It might sway the selectors’ decision.

“Tonight can only help us,” Northridge forward Scott Piri said. “They’re a Division I power, and a tie against them is nothing to be ashamed of.”

Northridge (9-4-4) played well enough to beat the Aztecs (13-4-3), but the Matadors could not beat goalie Bryan Finnerty, who made seven saves.

After a fairly even first half, Northridge dominated play in the second half, outshooting San Diego State, 13-4. During one 20-minute stretch, the Matadors had eight shots on goal while the Aztecs had none.

While some of the Matadors’ offensive futility was because of errant shots, Finnerty made several superb saves.

At the 57-minute mark, Finnerty leaped high to deflect a shot by Piri and 27 minutes later, he skied to deflect an indirect free kick by Andy Torres, then blocked Piri’s shot on the rebound.

In between those two brilliant saves, Northridge took seven shots on goal, coming up empty each time.

Both teams had excellent opportunities to score in the first half.

San Diego State’s best chance came five minutes into the match as forward Jeff Betts’ header off a corner kick hit the crossbar.

Betts, who left the match 30 minutes later because of what is believed to be a broken bone in his right wrist, was well covered by the Northridge defense but simply outjumped the Matador defenders.

Betts suffered the injury when he was knocked down after taking a shot.