Coach Turns Talented Individuals Into Potent Group : Soccer: North Huntington Beach club team earns berth in National Cup semifinals.

Three minutes into a most crucial soccer match last month, the North Huntington Beach Football Club’s under-16 team had already lost one of its best players.

Daniel Montoya, the team’s midfielder and leading scorer from Long Beach Millikan High School, was on the way to the hospital after being taken out by a hard tackle, leaving teammates to battle a Washington team for the West Regional championship of the U.S. Youth Soccer Assn.’s National Cup in Golden, Colo.

North Huntington Beach was anything but shorthanded, however. Sergio Zavala, who plays at Cypress High, stepped in to replace his injured teammate, and by the time Montoya returned from the hospital, North Huntington Beach was on its way to a 1-0 victory and a berth in the national semifinals July 23 in Richmond, Va.

It’s a testament to the style of soccer preached by Coach George Minton that North Huntington Beach won the match without its leading scorer. Minton, president of the North Huntington Beach Football Club for eight years, has blended some of Southern California’s best high school players into a team.

That’s not always easy for club coaches, who put together teams in August, disband them during the winter high school season, and then re-form them in February and March.

“We have a lot of very outstanding high school players who were stars for their teams,” Minton said. “I felt at the time they had become individuals and it took some time to get back the team unity.”

North Huntington Beach struggled a bit in the ultra-competitive Southern California district, losing a match in pool play to the Chino Spirit before rebounding to beat the Spirit in the final on penalty kicks after a scoreless tie.

The team, which includes players from schools as close as Mission Viejo, Huntington Beach, Marina, Ocean View, El Toro, Los Alamitos, Canyon and Cypress and as far away as Riverside, Fontana and Bakersfield, raised its performance level in the West Regional. North Huntington Beach outscored its opponents, 19-4, to sweep six matches.

“We played our best soccer in the regional, without a doubt,” Minton said. “And we now have to play the same brand of ball at the nationals to win.”

It’s a well-balanced brand--11 of the team’s 15 field players scored during the regional tournament--and one that depends on a strong defense, anchored by Tahj Jakins (Marina) Daniel Judkins (Marina), Ra Eang (Fontana), Ricky Le (El Toro), Pat Lee (Los Alamitos) and goalkeeper Matt Goldman (Huntington Beach).

Jakins scored two of the goals in the regionals--and both were significant. The first, in the second half against New Mexico, was a header that gave his team a 2-1 victory. Minton said New Mexico gave North Huntington Beach its toughest test.

The second, about 15 minutes into the second half of the title match, came on a corner kick from Charlie Lynch of Bakersfield West High. Jakins took the pass standing about 18 yards away from the goal and headed it into the lower right-hand corner.

“I knew I had to finish,” Jakins said. “The ball was right there. It was a perfect moment. Gosh, a memorable moment. I still can’t believe it.”