MOM SEEKS CHARGES IN INJURY VALENCIA WOMAN CALLS SANTA CLARITA SOCCER CENTER DANGEROUS.

Byline: Laurence Darmiento Daily News Staff Writer

Unnecessary contact in soccer is normally grounds for a penalty, or even ejection from the game.

But for a Valencia mother whose all-star son was injured at the Santa Clarita Soccer Center, that isn't enough.

She is seeking to have a player criminally prosecuted, and blames center management for letting games get out of hand.

Claiming that her 17-year-old son, J.R., was essentially the victim of an assault that broke his arm, Donna Lloyd has pressed sheriff's deputies to pursue a case against a Canyon Country man who crashed into him during a game earlier this month.

The soccer center management rejects Lloyd's claim that the enclosed arena is dangerous, while detectives already have told her that the incident was not criminal - but she plans to appeal the matter directly to prosecutors.

``He was body blocked from behind, football style, with a left knee into his back. That is not soccer,'' says Lloyd, who did not attend the game.

The injury occurred during a close March 2 game between a team of men and a team of older teen-agers, which included her son, a member of the Valencia High School varsity soccer squad and a valley all-star.

J.R. Lloyd was dribbling the ball down the left side of the field toward the opposing goal when he was hit from behind by player Sal Munoz, according to the criminal complaint filed last week with sheriff's deputies. Munoz was thrown out of the game.

``I am about to take a shot, and I see out of the corner of my this guy coming at me. He wasn't coming toward the ball, he was coming at me,'' recounted the youth during an interview.

``I had just scored a goal, and I got the impression that he was not going to let me score again. I was hammered into the wall. I think it was the hardest I have ever been hit in my life,'' said the youth, who weighs 140 pounds.

Munoz, 36, has refused to comment.

J.R. Lloyd said the collision occurred after his score narrowed his team's deficit to a single goal, immediately escalating the aggression of the adult team. He said referees did little to keep things under control.

Detectives who interviewed Munoz, Lloyd, her son and an opposing player say a criminal prosecution is not only unwarranted but nearly impossible.

``To prosecute a crime like assault, you have to show specific intent. You would have to show that Sal specifically intended to hurt him, and how do you prove that in this situation?'' said Detective Howard Fairchild.

``Sal told us that he never intended to hurt anyone in this game or any other. He says the ball was free and they both went for it. Maybe deep in his heart he had intent, but how do you show it?''

``Sal said they held back for a while until the other team scored, and when the kids became more aggressive they became more aggressive,'' Fairchild said.

Arena owner Scott Schauer defended the safety of the games at the enclosed arena, which opened in January off Soledad Canyon Road and has 140 teams playing in leagues seven days a week.

``We have a family-oriented place here. Parents sit in the stands. Foul language is the cause for immediate ejection. The soccer play is fervent and passionate, but the violence level is really nonexistent,'' he said.

``I wasn't there, but I have talked to referees and others. The intent was not to hurt the child. It was an unfortunate incident. It's sad in today's society that people want to make a criminal case out of something like this,'' he said.

Lloyd noted that her criminal complaint is not the first that has stemmed from violence at the arena.

Earlier this year, Gary Halcomb, the father of a 14-year-old girl who got into a fight with another player after on-the-field contact, filed an assault complaint against the other youth.

``We had been complaining for weeks that the referees don't control the game,'' said Halcomb, 44, of Saugus. ``I was playing there myself, but I told them I wouldn't any longer. I run my own business and can't afford to get hurt.''

Detective Jerry Johnson, who investigated the fight, said there was no criminal prosecution because it was deemed mutual combat among children.

Schauer said he was aware of the skirmish, but said the two complaints must be viewed in light of the thousands of games that have occurred without incident since the center opened.

But Lloyd maintains that the complaints indicate problems at the center. She is especially angry since the injury prevented her son from playing this past weekend at a special tournament in Upland for top teen-age players.

The tournament is attended by college scouts, but the youth was excluded because of the hard cast he must wear on his right arm for about three more weeks.

A top-notch student, the Valencia junior said he is seeking a soccer scholarship, perhaps to the University of California at Berkeley. Lloyd added that the injury also has affected her son's grades, because it happened to his writing hand.