UC IRVINE NOTEBOOK : Shutout Records Are Music to Goalie’s Ears
Coach Ray Smith’s face brightens at the mention of goalkeeper Amee Chapman, who has been busy setting UC Irvine records for shutouts.
“She’s great,” Smith said.
But he’s talking about her singing.
Chapman is a multitalented and very busy junior. She sings mostly “folkish” music, she says. “James Taylor-type music,” Smith says.
Chapman plays guitar and writes her own songs, including one to commemorate her grandparents’ 50th anniversary.
Somewhere between soccer and singing appearances around campus and at open-mike nights, Chapman wedges in a job as an assistant manager at a sandwich shop. She also coaches goalkeepers at Edison High, where UCI teammate Kerry McGrath is the girls’ coach.
And oh yes, there’s school.
Chapman has managed to find time to claim a place in the Irvine record book with nine shutouts this season--a single-season record--and 14 for her career, two more than former teammate Alicia Miller compiled from 1988-90.
Chapman says the record isn’t a solo act, and gives credit to the band in front of her--defenders McGrath, Jennifer Lachman and sweeper Chris Awadallah, whose play Smith considers a key.
“There have only been a couple of games where it was like, ‘Yes, Amee, you earned this shutout. You are the reason,’ Chapman said. “The rest, it’s all them.”
With such a strong defense, Chapman hasn’t been forced to make a lot of saves. But she has earned her due through hard work. She doesn’t have a backup goalie.
“There are times I wish there was another goalkeeper,” she said. “ Mostly when we’re having shooting practice and they’re taking like 600 shots at a time. If it’s going well and I’m saving shots it’s fun. But if I’m not doing well and they’re all going in, I want someone else to come and save me.”
But for now, the place in the record book is saved for her alone.
“To get the singing job, to get to be the starting keeper, to get to be an assistant manager, to be a goalie coach, these have all been part of the changes in my life,” Chapman said. “The records are just another thing added on that makes me feel good about myself and why I’m here.”
Vic Cegles, the final finalist for the UCI athletic director’s job, said Tuesday he is involved in ongoing talks with Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Horace Mitchell, but that the job has not been offered.
“We’re just talking,” said Cegles, an assistant athletic director at Arizona State and a respected fund-raiser. “I haven’t accepted the job and he hasn’t offered it.”
Mitchell’s approach apparently has been to work out the major details of the position before formally offering it. He said Tuesday the search has not been re-opened.
“The only thing I can say right now is we’re still pursing the process,” Mitchell said.
Cegles is the last candidate standing after Fairleigh Dickinson Athletic Director Roy Danforth withdrew for unspecified reasons and former Nevada Las Vegas Athletic Director Brad Rothermel bowed out because Irvine indicated it would not meet his demands for an additional $1 million in department funding.
Cegles said he is also concerned about resources, but he is not as specific as Rothermel was.
“I just have a lot of questions, and he’s going to get back to me with some answers,” Cegles said. “What really is important to me is that there is a commitment from everybody.”
The women’s cross-country team has had some unexpected struggles this season. Rayna Cervantes--last year’s Big West Conference champion--has run only two races because of illness. Tiffany York has run with a broken little toe. And the team as a whole has not lived up to Coach Vince O’Boyle’s expectations.
They get a big chance to make up for it Saturday at the Big West championships in Hawaii.
Traci Goodrich, Irvine’s No. 1 runner, will have a chance to make up for last year as well. She missed the 1991 Big West meet after suffering a freak knee injury while decorating for a party.
There is some Irvine tradition on the line--the Anteaters have won eight of the nine Big West Conference championships. O’Boyle rates Cal State Fullerton, Nevada, UC Santa Barbara and Hawaii as the Anteaters’ top competitors.
The men’s team also has tradition, having won six of the past seven titles. They have a tougher race facing them, but they have made progress in recent weeks after a slow start because the program had been slated to be discontinued.
Brian Hild, who was sixth at the Big West meet last season, and Mike Nielsen, who was seventh, are the team’s top runners.
Wasn’t 1991-92 scary enough? The Irvine men’s basketball team won seven games last season and the women’s team won five. And now preseason practice starts on Halloween night?
Organizers hope the Oct. 31 date adds more fun to the traditional Midnight Madness practice. Beginning at 11 p.m. Saturday in the Bren Center, there will be a costume contest, a student dunk contest, a three-point contest and a player dunk exhibition, among other activities. Free T-shirts and tacos will be available in limited quantities.
As for the teams--which are allowed to begin practicing in the first minutes of Nov. 1 under NCAA rules--both squads hope to be improved.
The men, in particular, ought to be. They have Villanova transfer Lloyd Mumford among a strong group of newcomers and have been picked to finish near the middle of the Big West race. The men were 7-22 last season and upset Santa Barbara in the first round of the Big West tournament.
Bren bargain: Basketball season tickets are available for $99 to anyone who gave as much as $50 to the athletic foundation last year. That’s for a 13-game men’s home basketball schedule that includes a game against Georgetown.
Irvine faculty, staff, retirees, alumni association members and seat-option holders are also eligible for the $99 price.
The season-ticket price for the general public is $120, and for students it is $30--which works out to $2.31 a game.
Anteater Notes
The men’s soccer match against UCLA this week will be at 3 p.m. Thursday at Crawford Field. It was originally scheduled for Friday. There are three U.S. Olympians on the UCLA team--Joe-Max Moore, Brad Friedel and Zak Ibsen. . . . The women’s swimming and diving team opens its season at home Saturday against the University of San Diego. . . . Randy Lake, an honorable mention All-American sailor last year, has qualified for the Intercollegiate Yacht Racing Assn. national championships Nov. 6-8 at New London, Conn.
