Steinert’s Return Is Another Plus for El Toro

It was a defensive move Lesli Steinert had made thousands of times, but this time something went wrong.

Steinert, a defensive standout for the El Toro girls’ soccer team, had stolen the ball from Mission Viejo’s Nikki Charette in a South Coast League match last season and was trying to pivot when she heard a pop in her left knee.

The two players fell to the turf. Charette got up; Steinert had to be carried off by El Toro Coach Kerry Krause.

“Her injury looked pretty innocuous from the sideline,” Krause said. “We had three injuries in that game and hers looked the least serious. I thought she’d be back in there in five minutes.”

In fact, the pop Steinert had heard was her anterior cruciate ligament tearing. It’s the same injury that kept the Clippers’ Danny Manning out of an entire NBA season and continues to keep UCLA’s Ed O’Bannon out of action.

Steinert knew nothing of the injury’s seriousness until her doctor explained its severity and described the reconstructive surgery required.

“He said, ‘You’re lucky you’re a junior because you won’t get to play for a year,’ ” Steinert said. “When I heard that I thought, ‘Oh no, I’ve got to play.’ ”

She couldn’t. Instead, she was on the sideline wearing a heavy knee brace as El Toro won its second consecutive Southern Section Division 4-A championship and extended its unbeaten streak to 39 matches.

“It gave me time to think,” Steinert said. “It’s almost like you died and came back. It was weird. You don’t realize what you have in life until you’re sitting there watching what you’re supposed to be doing.”

Inactivity was all the motivation Steinert needed. Not only did she set out to return in time for the next soccer season, but she also decided she would play for the volleyball team in September.

To the surprise of many, she did it.

“I wouldn’t have given you five cents for her chances last year,” Krause said. “I mean, it’s a major injury.”

Playing in a flexible knee brace, Steinert is the setter for the Chargers’ volleyball team, which was the Southern Section Division 5-A runner-up and will play for the State Division I championship Saturday at Cal State Fullerton.

Soccer has been put on hold until the Chargers’ volleyball season ends. Steinert has only recently kicked a soccer ball around with Traci Jensen, an El Toro teammate who also plays both sports.

Because of the graduation of Shawn Viloria, the two-time Division 4-A offensive player of the year, Krause plans to move Steinert from sweeper, where she was the 4-A defensive player of the year as a sophomore, to midfielder when she returns to the soccer team.

Krause says Steinert will be brought along slowly as she grows accustomed to playing with a brace. Some players, he said, are bothered by the added weight and tend to drag the leg with the brace.

“I don’t think it’s going to make as much of a difference with her because she’s so skilled and strong,” Krause said. “It’s not all speed with her.

“If she plays midfielder the way I think she can, we won’t miss a beat. If she’s a sweeper, same thing. And if she isn’t able to play, I don’t want this to sound wrong, but we played without her last year, so we’d be all right.”

Although some recommended that Steinert give up one of her sports, she never considered it.

“I couldn’t let down my volleyball team and not play and I wanted to play for my soccer team because they’re just like my family. I’ve been with them four years.

“It’s just something I felt like I had to do.”

1991-92 Girls’ Soccer Preview

Top teams: Anaheim, Brea-Olinda, Canyon, Corona del Mar, Dana Hills, Edison, El Toro, Esperanza, Estancia, Foothill, Kennedy, Los Alamitos, Marina, Mater Dei, Mission Viejo, Sunny Hills, Trabuco Hills, Valencia.

Top players: Trisha Abe (Mater Dei), Laura Amrofell (Foothill), Helen Baron (Rosary), Lisa Boatman (Corona del Mar), Kim Campbell (Canyon), Nikki Charette (Mission Viejo), Kristy Clark (Magnolia), April Crosby (Huntington Beach), Heather Colvin (Brea-Olinda), Shannon deAvila (El Toro), Tammi Daman (Trabuco Hills), Marilyn De La Torre (Fullerton), Debbie Demarchi (Mission Viejo), Megan DeSales (Sunny Hills), Kim Donohue (Mater Dei), Tricia Engle (Magnolia), Karen Ferrier (Brea-Olinda), Jill Florey (Mission Viejo), Kristina Grigaitis (Estancia), Heidi Gugler (Sunny Hills), Kathy Haerly (Esperanza), Amy Hardy (Foothill), Brenda Hinrichs (El Modena), Stefanie Hughes (Corona del Mar), Julie Kanasi (Los Alamitos), Denise Kenyon (El Toro), Kirsten Keyler (Mater Dei), Amy Kroeger (Dana Hills), Jennifer Lachman (Edison), Monika Larsson (Capistrano Valley), Kristen Lowery (Trabuco Hills), Christy Lunceford (Trabuco Hills), Janell Martin (Edison), Kari Maeda (Foothill), Megan Murray (Esperanza), Shannon Pickett (Trabuco Hills), Gina Pitale (Dana Hills), Claudia Ruggiero (Estancia), Jelena Sadzak (Kennedy), Molly Schulman (El Modena), Lesli Steinert (El Toro), Kathy Skoglund (Los Alamitos), Danielle Straub (Estancia), Lynne Thiel (Edison), Tina Thompson (Canyon), Stacy Thurber (Sunny Hills), Lori Van Herk (Kennedy), Katie Ward (Mater Dei), Erin Williams (Newport Harbor), Ginger Wilshin (Dana Hills).

Important dates: Dec. 7, 9-14--Irvine Tournament; Dec. 14, 21, 23--Cerritos Tournament; Dec. 26-28--Foothill Excalibur Tournament; Feb. 20-21--Southern Section playoffs begin; March 6-7--Southern Section championships.

Notes: El Toro, the two-time defending Division 4-A champion, is ranked No. 1 in the preseason coaches’ poll. Runner-up Simi Valley is ranked second, Mater Dei third, Edison fourth, Dana Hills fifth, Esperanza sixth and Los Alamitos seventh. For the past six seasons, the 4-A champion has come from the South Coast League.