Mission Viejo Captures 4-A Girls’ Soccer Title For Third Straight Year

Put simply, the 1-0 victory Mission Viejo High School’s girls’ soccer team scored over West Torrance Friday night was, well, a little ordinary.

Ordinary, that is, for those who know of Mission Viejo’s extra ordinary nature: its fabulous passing, its relentless intensity and that tick-tock teamwork that has kept it without a loss for 69 consecutive games.

Of course, there was one thing that made Friday night’s win different. The victory--won under the lights in front of 350 fans at Gahr High School in Cerritos--gave the Diablos the Southern Section 4-A championship--their third in three years.

It enabled Mission Viejo to finish the sensational season at 26-0-2, and 53-0-3 over two seasons.

And that was something to celebrate.

“It is just awesome,” said senior defender Tammy VanOpdorp.

“Winning three CIFs in a row . . . it’s incredible. What a way to go!”

What a way to win. The Diablos, who outshot West Torrance, 24-5, controlled the game’s tempo from the start. In the first 10 minutes alone, Mission Viejo took two close shots and two corner kicks.

Despite Mission Viejo’s dominance, West Torrance kept the Diablos scoreless through the first half. West Torrance goalkeeper Carolyn Hueth, an All-Southern Section first-team selection last season, made seven saves in the first half, nine in the game.

Hueth, who made 17 saves--many of them diving--in Tuesday’s semifinal victory over Capistrano Valley, played another impressive match Friday night.

Early in the game, Hueth, a 6-foot senior, stopped three bullet-force shots in a row by Diablo midfielder Julie Foudy.

Hueth delivered half a dozen kicks of 40-50 yards or more. She dove to stop a full-speed breakaway shot by VanOpdorp.

But 55:51 into the match, a shot that Hueth didn’t see--and didn’t stop--went into the goal, giving a screaming and hugging Diablo team a 1-0 lead with 25 minutes remaining.

The goal was a Mission Viejo institution: wide cross from Foudy, short pass by Stacey Hopper, quick shot by Kerri Kennedy. The process, which took place within and around a pack of defenders, took all of two seconds.

“If I could have just saved it,” said a teary-eyed Hueth, “it might have made the difference.”

Perhaps. But the responsibility also fell on the West Torrance fullbacks, who couldn’t quite keep up with Mission Viejo’s attack and counter-attack, and its forwards, who couldn’t keep up with Mission Viejo’s superb speed and passing.

“What can I say? We gave it our best,” said West Torrance Coach Andy Bonchonsky. “I thought we could be in there a little better. But it wasn’t our night. We played as well as anyone could have.”

The most serious threat West Torrance made was 36 minutes into the second half when a high, spinning corner kick curved directly into the goalie box.

Inches before it touched net, though, Mission Viejo defender Jennifer Ward popped up behind goalie Tamar deFries and headed the ball out of range. It was the game’s most spectacular move.

Ward, a sophomore who moved up from the junior varsity just two weeks ago, had replaced senior-defender Sheri Bertell Friday. Bertell was given a red card for arguing with a referee in Tuesday’s semifinal and was not allowed to compete in the final.

“I saw it coming, but it happened so fast I didn’t have time to think about it,” Ward said. “If I had known that was going to happen before the game, I would have been a nervous wreck.”