Fate Gives Westmont the Boot : Soccer: High-scoring Chris Bingman opted for Master’s because he didn’t want to be a goalie. Now his school will play in a championship match.

Had Chris Bingman thought less of kicking the ball than catching it, he would be wearing Westmont College maroon today instead of Master’s blue.

In a delicious twist of fate, those schools will face each other at Westmont this afternoon at 1 for the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics District 3 soccer championship, and Westmont Coach Bob Fortosis is undoubtedly pretty blue himself.

Bingman had planned to attend Westmont in 1986 after graduating from Hill Crest Christian in Thousand Oaks but opted for Master’s when Fortosis wanted to convert the 6-foot-2, 180-pound senior from forward to goalie.

“I was really excited about going (to Westmont),” Bingman said. “They had a great soccer tradition, but when he started talking about converting me, I said, ‘No way.’ ”

And Master’s Coach Mark Schubert stepped right in. Schubert, who had just inherited a team that won only two matches the previous season, heard of Bingman through a mutual friend. Once he saw him play, Schubert pulled out the stops.

“I knew I had to have him,” Schubert said. “He was just the type of player I was looking for to build a program around.”

Master’s improved to 10-10 in Bingman’s first year and to 17-5 in 1987, giving Schubert ample reason to assume that 1988 would be the year of the Mustangs. But injuries decimated the team and Master’s finished 7-13, with the season ending in elimination by Biola in the District 3 semifinals for the second year in a row.

The injuries got so bad that Bingman, in an ironic twist, was forced to play in goal the last 19 matches.

Both goalies went down early. Allan Bowden’s season ended with a knee injury during the first week of practice, and, when reserve Bruce Burnham suffered a similar fate in the first match, Bingman became the Mustangs’ last line of defense.

“It was extremely frustrating because I felt like I could have helped the team a lot more playing out front,” Bingman said. “But we really didn’t have a choice. I was the only one left who had any experience in the goal.”

With Bowden back in goal--and Bingman back on the attack--Master’s this year has compiled a 16-4-3 record, including a dramatic 2-1 shoot-out victory Tuesday over Cal Lutheran in the semifinals. The win against the Kingsmen propelled the Mustangs into their first District 3 title match.

“Chris has always been a great athlete,” Schubert said. “But this year, he’s relying less on his physical skills and focusing more on the tactical side of the game. He’s thinking more about what he’s doing.

“In the past, he was able to get by strictly on his athletic ability, but he’s improved his tactics this year, and he’s twice the player he was before.”

Statistics support Schubert’s claim. Bingman’s 17 goals and nine assists tie him for second on the team with 43 points.

With three other players--Russ Spencer (14), Chris Palm (13), and Randy Whitfield (10)--in double figures, Master’s has outscored its opposition, 82-30.

The Mustangs will need every bit of their firepower to beat top-ranked Westmont (15-2-3), whose only losses have been to Division I schools UCLA and San Jose State.

The winner moves on to the NAIA tournament at the High Noon Soccer Complex in Las Cruces, N. M., Nov. 20-25.

“We have to shut down the middle of their field,” Bingman said. “But if we play with the kind of intensity we did against Cal Lutheran, they’re going to be very hard pressed to beat us.”