GIRLS’ SOCCER ‘93-’94: SEASON PREVIEW : Los Alamitos’ Willemse Faces Tough Job Staying on Top

In football, the Esperanza-Los Alamitos rivalry needs little public relations support--the schools buzz for weeks before the big game. But to attract a crowd for girls’ soccer, a sales job is sometimes necessary.

So it was January, when Elizabeth Willemse and Jessica Kinnihan sat in a coffee shop before school started, plotting over hot chocolate how to entice Los Alamitos fans to come to the afternoon’s home game against Esperanza.

Willemse and Kinnihan were Los Alamitos players; Kinnihan was responsible for making morning announcements to the student body. Together, they drafted a pitch. It was raining hard, so it had to be good.

“She said something about how it was going to be a mud bowl, like mud wrestling out on the field,” Willemse said. “And actually it was.”

The spectators who lined the field, some sitting in cars and honking their horns, watched the game in a driving rain. It had been moved from the usual soccer field to the football team’s practice field in hopes of finding a better playing surface, but it was still a mess.

Los Alamitos led, 1-0, at the half, but Los Alamitos Coach Mark Morin wasn’t comfortable.

“We were stalled and not able to do anything,” Morin said. “Then suddenly (Willemse) stepped up and started to put goals away. It was incredible to watch. Because of her grace, she was able to move easily in the mud, while other players slipped around her.”

Willemse scored three goals and the Griffins won, 4-0, and went on to win the Empire League championship. Willemse, then a sophomore, was named the league’s player of the year.

“From that point she had complete confidence in herself and what she could do,” Morin said. “Not that she didn’t score before that game, but her performance there was the difference in her year.”

In the playoffs, the Griffins advanced to the Southern Section Division II semifinals before losing, 1-0, to top-seeded Arcadia, the eventual champion. Willemse, who finished the season with 17 goals and four assists, was something of a surprise standout last season. Opponents didn’t start marking her closely until the playoffs.

That will undoubtedly change this season, but Willemse says she’s ready for the challenge. She is guarded closely when she plays for her club team, North Huntington Beach, and is growing more accustomed to the feeling.

“I try to pretend there is no one marking me,” Willemse said. “And I try to get them when they’re not ready.”

Like many club soccer players, Willemse was ready to start for Los Alamitos as a freshman. She started playing soccer before she was 5 and joined her first club team at 10.

As a freshman, she split time as a starter but gave little indication that she would become one of Orange County’s leading scorers the next season.

Morin said one reason for her rapid improvement is she was in better physical condition.

“That was probably the major thing that was missing when she was freshman,” he said. “She’d get tired and coast a little bit. Not that she was out of shape, but there’s a difference between being in top condition and being in good condition.

“Forward is a hard-working position. You’ve got to sprint, sprint, sprint.”

Willemse made conditioning strides by riding a bike. Several years ago, her older brother, Jay, who was a second-team All-Empire League boys’ soccer player for the Griffins before graduating in 1990, persuaded her to buy a road bicycle and take the time to start riding.

On her first ride, down the San Gabriel River trail to Seal Beach, about 12 miles round trip, she was quickly fatigued.

“I was dying,” she said.

But she persevered and a few months later she rode in the 50-mile race between Rosarito and Ensenada on the Baja Peninsula. Now Willemse has started--and finished--the race four times, once finishing in about 2 hours 55 minutes, only three minutes behind her brother.

However, Willemse doesn’t fancy herself another Greg LeMonde. To her, biking is a pleasant diversion that helps her stay in shape for soccer.

It might also help her remain focused on the field.

“She has an incredible presence, a relaxed confidence,” Morin said. “There are some people, who when they have the opportunity, it’s in the back of the net. She’s one of those people.”

Girls’ Soccer at a Glance

Top players: Alivia Anthony, Brea-Olinda, Sr.; Erin Bailey, Edison, Sr.; Jacquie Bannister, Canyon, Jr.; Krista Broughton, Canyon, Sr.; Tiffany Brown, Santa Margarita, Sr.; Marcy Crouch, Marina, Jr.; Michelle Davies, Anaheim, Sr.; Karen Dawes, Ocean View, Jr.; Erica DeVitis, Santa Margarita, Jr.; Amber Duarte, La Habra, Jr.; Kimberly Engesser, Ocean View, Jr.; Juli Evers, Brea-Olinda, Sr., goalkeeper; Laura Flatauer, Canyon, Sr.; Laurie Fritz, Kennedy, Sr.; Morgan Ganitch, Woodbridge, Sr.; Polly Gifford, Woodbridge, Sr.; Courtney Grace, La Quinta, Sr.; Joi Guenther, Pacifica, Sr.; Kristi Hales, El Modena, Sr.; Deborah Hargrave, Fullerton, Jr.; Stephanie Hughes, Corona del Mar, Sr.; Sarah Lang, Laguna Hills, Sr., goalkeeper; Lindsay Light, Capistrano Valley, Sr.; Tracie Manz, Estancia, Sr.; Kim McKay, Capistrano Valley, Sr.; Beth Merkle, Mission Viejo, Jr.; Amy Moreno, El Modena, Sr., goalkeeper; Sumon Nicole, Dana Hills, Jr., goalkeeper; Shelby Olmstead, Los Alamitos, Sr.; Rhonda Partida, Sunny Hills, Sr.; Jill Pool, El Toro, Sr.; Katie Roda, Irvine, So.; Lindsey Rogers, Trabuco Hills, Sr.; Kristin Ruzzi, Fullerton, Sr.; Rhiannon Tanaka, Marina, Sr.; Tita Tavares, Estancia, Sr.; Maggie Terry, Mission Viejo, Jr.; Kim Thompson, Capistrano Valley, Sr.; Julie Tibbits, Laguna Hills, Sr.; Christine Tyler, Edison, Sr.; Jenny Uriarte, Dana Hills, Jr.; Chrissy Whalen, Mater Dei, Sr.; Elizabeth Willemse, Los Alamitos, Jr.

League favorites: Century: El Modena; Empire: Los Alamitos; Freeway: Sunny Hills; Garden Grove: Pacifica; Olympic: Ontario Christian; Orange: Brea-Olinda; Pacific Coast: Estancia; Sea View: Santa Margarita; South Coast: Capistrano Valley; Sunset: Marina.

1992 final poll: 1. El Toro; 2. Marina; 3. Capistrano Valley; 4. Edison; 5. Canyon; 6. Los Alamitos; 7. Ocean View; 8. Dana Hills; 9. El Modena; 10. Estancia.

1993 preseason poll: 1. Marina; 2. Capistrano Valley; 3. Edison; 4. El Modena; 5. Los Alamitos; 6. Santa Margarita; 7. Ocean View; 8. Canyon; 9. Sunny Hills; 10. Esperanza.

Key dates: Irvine tournament, Dec. 4, 6, 8, 11; Foothill tournament, Dec. 27-29; Southern Section playoffs begin, Feb. 19; Southern Section finals, March 4-5.

Notes: El Modena will play host to Sunny Hills, Capistrano Valley and Trabuco Hills at Fred Kelly Stadium in the Vanguard Cup Dec. 10-11. It will be the first time girls’ soccer has been played at the football stadium. . . . Santiago, which has a perennially strong field hockey team, will field a girls’ soccer team for the first time this year. “We look like we have some good athletes coming out for soccer, too,” Coach David Merito said.