Claremont Has Mutch to Crow About

Trevor Mutch chose to go to a Division III school because he wanted to concentrate on his education, not athletics, and simply have fun playing soccer. He’s doing a lot more than just having fun.

In his second season at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Mutch has not only led the Stags to the playoffs, he has put himself among the nation’s leaders in scoring for the second consecutive year.

Mutch has scored 21 goals, tied for sixth in the nation in Division III, and is the main weapon for a team that finished 12-1-1 in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, winning the conference title outright for the first time since 1994. Wednesday night, the Stags host Chapman at 7:30 in Claremont’s first playoff game since 1997.

And the Stags are confident going into the playoffs, saying they’re peaking just in time.

“There were teams here before who had good seasons but were flat at the end. We are just the opposite,” Coach Louis Bilowitz said. “Our last three games were our only three in which we’ve had the lineup we planned on having all year.”

For Mutch, the playoffs are nothing new. An All-Southern Section player at Loyola along with his brother, Shaun, who also plays for Claremont, Mutch was on a Southern Section championship team two years ago.

He was ready to move on to a Division I program, looking at such schools as Loyola Marymount and California. But he decided that his need for an education came before his desire to play major collegiate soccer.

“I wanted to concentrate on what I’m going to school for and get a degree in four years,” he said. “I love it here. The class sizes are small, I can actually talk to my teachers outside of class and I’ll be out of here in four years.”

But while he has played in the obscurity of the SCIAC, Mutch has had no trouble in putting his name among the nation’s statistical leaders.

His 21 goals are actually a drop-off from the 24 he scored as a freshman, best for Division III freshmen and one short of the school record. He also had 52 points in 1998, 10th in the nation in points per game and tops among Division III freshmen. This year he has 48 points, 11th in points per game.

He credits his success to diligence in games and practice.

“I don’t think I’m much better than everyone, I just put myself in position,” he said. “It’s about hard work and knowing where the ball’s coming.”

And that hard work has carried over in his education. Considering either a future in government or business, Mutch is thinking about a double-major.

But for now, Mutch’s attention is still devoted to soccer. And regardless of how this season ends, he looks to be headed for more soccer success in the future.

With 45 goals and 101 points, Mutch is on pace to break school records for points (177) and goals (70), which were set by Eric Themm from 1982 to ’85.

Though Mutch knows those records are within reach, he has a bigger goal in mind right now.

“Those things you can worry about when you’re a senior and your career is winding down,” he said. “I have two years left and I’ll gladly exchange the records for a national championship.

Juan Carlos Bolanos scored all three goals for Dominguez Hills as the Toros defeated Grand Canyon, 3-1, to win their first California Collegiate Athletic Assn. championship Saturday. . . . The news wasn’t as good for the Toro women. They lost a heartbreaker to Cal Poly Pomona, 1-0, in quadruple overtime in Sunday’s CCAA championship. Tera Oldfield scored the only goal in the 149th minute. But the two meet again Saturday at Pomona in an NCAA regional game. Also, Cal Poly Coach Carlos Juarez was named CCAA coach of the year earlier in the week. . . . After a scoreless regulation and overtime, Azusa Pacific defeated Westmont, 3-1, on penalty kicks Saturday to advance to the regional championship match against Fresno Pacific this Saturday. . . . The Westmont women got some revenge, defeating defending national champion Azusa Pacific, 4-2, in their regional final Saturday.

The season Redlands quarterback Danny Ragsdale is putting together gets more impressive every weekend. Saturday, he passed for 376 yards and five touchdowns in little more than a half, leading the Bulldogs to a school-record 73 points in a 73-3 rout of Whittier. Ragsdale now holds school season records for yards (3,093) and touchdowns (29), and is second in the nation in total yards per game at more than 408.4. Ragsdale actually helped bring down one of his school records Saturday, completing a pass to receiver Chad Hustead for the 64th time this season. That breaks the record of 63 set by Ragsdale two years ago, before he took over at quarterback last season.

Azusa Pacific’s Chrystall DeNaeyer edged Concordia’s Tricia Mattson to win the GSAC cross-country championship Saturday. Both runners were timed in 18 minutes 18 seconds. Concordia won the team title, and Cal Baptist won the men’s championship.

UNIVERSITY DIVISION

The No. 2 UCLA men’s soccer team got an overtime goal from player-of-the-year candidate Sasha Victorine to defeat No. 13 Cal State Fullerton and clinch the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Pacific Division title. The victory also ended the Bruins’ three-game losing streak to the Titans and extended their winning streak to 14. . . . The No. 3 USC men’s water polo team rebounded from a loss to No. 1 Stanford the weekend before to rout No. 12 Pepperdine, 12-2, Saturday.

The No. 7 UCLA women’s volleyball team, perhaps the nation’s hottest team entering last weekend, lost at No. 2 Stanford in four games Friday before a Pacific 10 season-high 5,291. The loss was the first in the conference for the Bruins, bringing the Cardinal to within one-half game of them, and ended UCLA’s 19-match winning streak. . . . The Long Beach State women’s volleyball team defeated UC Santa Barbara in four games Saturday, completing a sweep of its Big West rival.

In an all-USC final, second seeded Andrew Park defeated top-seeded Patrick Gottesleben, 6-2, 6-2, Sunday to win the ITA Region VIII South tennis championship, a fall regional tournament, held at Pepperdine. Pepperdine’s Sebastien Graeff and Anthony Ross, seeded fourth in doubles, defeated top-seeded Ryan Moore and Nick Rainey of USC, 6-1, 7-6, Sunday to win the doubles title. With his title, Park automatically qualified for the national indoor championships in February.

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Best of the Week

WOMEN’S SOCCER

NCAA tournament at UCLA’s North Athletic Field, Saturday, 1 p.m.; at the Coliseum, Sunday, 1 p.m. : The No. 14 Bruins and No. 17 Trojans get byes in today’s first round and will play for a spot in the round of 16 this weekend.

CS Dominguez Hills at Cal Poly Pomona, Saturday, 7 p.m. : After playing into quadruple overtime in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. tournament last weekend, they go at it again in the NCAA tournament.

MEN’S SOCCER

Azusa Pacific at Fresno Pacific, Saturday, 1 p.m.: After defeating Westmont in the regional semifinals last weekend, the Cougars travel to Fresno to face the Sunbirds in the regional championship.

UCLA at Washington, today, 1 p.m. : The No. 2 Bruins, winners of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Pacific Division, face the No. 21 Huskies, winners of the Mountain Division, in a regular-season finale with plenty of tournament-seeding implications.

MEN’S WATER POLO

USC at UCLA, Friday, 3 p.m.: Two of the top three teams in the nation face off in one of the biggest matches of the year.

SCIAC championship tournament at Caltech, Saturday and Sunday: Five of the seven SCIAC teams are ranked in the Division III top 10.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Pacific at Long Beach State, Saturday, 7:30 p.m.: Tied for the Big West Western Division lead, the No. 6 49ers and No. 5 Tigers meet in the regular-season finale. The Tigers defeated the 49ers in three games in their first meeting, when the Tigers were ranked No. 1.

FOOTBALL

Redlands at Cal Lutheran, Saturday, 1 p.m.: If playing for the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship wasn’t incentive enough, Cal Lutheran (3-1 in the SCIAC) will be looking to avenge a 53-13 loss to Redlands (4-0) last season--a loss that angered the Regals so much, they have had the score painted inside their locker room all season.

Azusa Pacific at Chapman, Saturday, 1 p.m.: The Cougars face a Division III opponent in their final game before the NAIA playoffs begin. A victory and the defending NAIA champions are in, a loss and they become a bubble team.