Foudy Takes Steps to Boost Streak

Julie Foudy, Mission Viejo High School midfielder, is one of the premier girls’ soccer players in Southern California and perhaps the entire state.

Foudy’s credits are endless: two-time Times’ player of the year; two-time Southern Section 4-A offensive player of the year; the South Coast League player of the year in 1987; the only freshman named to the All-Southern Section team in 1986, and a member of the Diablos’ three consecutive Southern Section 4-A championship teams.

With Foudy leading the way, Mission Viejo has set a national record for consecutive games without a loss, which has reached 79. The Diablos have not lost a game since January, 1986.

And it seems Foudy has been around forever.

Her leadership is a must this year for an inexperienced team that critics speculate will not be able to sustain the winning streak.

Foudy is one of only two seniors on this year’s team. And she is a major reason why the Diablos are 10-0 despite that inexperience.

Foudy, The Times’ athlete of the week, led her team to the championship of the Ocean View tournament. She scored the goal in a 1-0 victory over Mater Dei in Thursday’s final.

She called the shot “lucky.”

To call Foudy modest would be an understatement. Foudy, who has 13 goals and 4 assists this season for Mission Viejo, was one of only four girls from California to be selected to the U.S. national women’s team that played in China and Italy this summer. “I think it starts when you’re younger,” Foudy said. “I played with a club team (the Mission Viejo Soccerettes) my first 10 years of soccer. I started when I was 6 or 7. We had a really successful team and a good level of competition. We always had coaches who really stressed technical skills.”

Mission Viejo Coach Jim Dutton gives a little more credit to Foudy.

“She likes to improve,” he said. “She works hard and against the best competition she can. She always wants the talent she is going against to be better than she is so that she can improve. That is her biggest asset.”

Foudy’s work ethic has been a “rallying point” for her teammates this year, Dutton said.

“They try to look up to her and do the things she does,” said Dutton. “She tries to keep them up all the time because she is so competitive. She tries to win and tries to play a great game every time and they look up to that.”

Foudy’s athletic skill is such that she could be successful at whatever sport she played, Dutton said. She also plays volleyball for the Diablos.

But Yale, Brown, Stanford and North Carolina, just to name a few universities, are recruiting her for soccer, not volleyball. And her attention to academics increases her value to colleges.

“I take school really seriously,” said Foudy, who is an A student. “That is something I look on as an accomplishment because it’s hard to keep your grades up when you’re that busy. So it means a lot.”

What more could she want from her high school soccer career?

“To win the fourth championship,” Foudy said. “Then I’ll be satisfied.”

TOP PERFORMERS

Holly Anderson of Capistrano Valley was named the most valuable player of the Costa Mesa girls’ basketball tournament Friday after leading her team to a 55-25 victory over Montebello in the championship game. Anderson scored 111 points in 4 games, including 41 points in a first-round victory over Canyon.

Julie Foudy

Mission Viejo High

Position: Midfielder

Height, Class: 5-6, Senior

Last Week: In the Ocean View tournament, Foudy had 6 goals and 2 assists in 4 games. She scored the goal in Mission Viejo’s 1-0 victory over Mater Dei in the championship game.

Season: Foudy leads her team with 13 goals and 4 assists.