THE PREPS : Soccer Players Suspended, Coach Fired at Mater Dei

Mater Dei administrators have dismissed first-year soccer Coach John O’Neil and suspended 11 varsity players from school, according to Bob Ickes, who has been named interim coach.

Administrators took the action after an investigation to substantiate rumors that some members of the boys’ soccer team were drinking alcohol at a team retreat chaperoned by O’Neil at Big Bear the weekend of Dec. 3.

Ickes, the Mater Dei baseball coach, said he was appointed interim soccer coach Monday for the Monarchs, who are ranked fourth in Division 4-A.

“I haven’t talked to the school at all since Monday,” O’Neil said Wednesday. “They just told me (Monday) that there may be a coaching change.”

O’Neil, 22, reserved further comment until after a meeting with administrators today. Athletic Director Gary McKnight was not available Wednesday.

O’Neil, the brother of Mater Dei quarterback Danny O’Neil, said Sunday that no drinking went on in front of him during the retreat. The team went to the mountains to build team unity, he said.

Eleven varsity players who attended the retreat have been suspended from play since Friday and from school earlier this week. A team comprising the varsity players who did not attend the retreat and junior varsity players has been competing for Mater Dei in place of the varsity.

Times staff writer Tom Hamilton contributed to this story.