BOYS SOCCER 1994-1995: SOCCER PREVIEW : George Learns Control; Opponents Suffer Consequences

The season hadn’t even started yet and Santa Margarita forward Seth George was already giving his teammates grief.

“I thought some guys weren’t giving it their all in practice and I kind of had a blowup,” George said. “But I was wrong. Sometimes I think winning is more important than everything else. Sometimes I say whatever is in my head and I don’t think before I talk. It gets me in trouble sometimes.”

Yet, George insists he’s toned down his act this year.

“Oh, I’ve gotten a lot better from what I was,” he said. “I’m two or three times better. I’m not even close to what I was.”

But while George works to control his temper, Santa Margarita’s opponents will work even harder to control George, the county’s leading goal scorer last season and only one of two juniors to be a Times’ All-County first-team selection.

If defenders found it difficult to stop George last season, this season could be a nightmare. George scored 24 goals last season almost by himself; he was often double-teamed and constantly shadowed by at least one player. The defensive-oriented Eagles gave George little help; their next highest scorer had just eight goals.

But George has a playmate this season--junior forward Brian Piesner, a transfer from Houston. And with only a week of practice, the two are already clicking like they’ve been together for years.

“He’s a team player,” George said. “He really wants to win. He’s not a selfish forward. We play a lot alike. We play real good together.”

Santa Margarita Coach Curt Bauer said he can already see how much Piesner has helped George’s game.

“Seth will be even more spectacular this year because he has a guy who can help take some of the pressure off him,” Bauer said. “People won’t be able to double-team him as much and that will give him more freedom.”

Though the team went 16-5-3 and reached the Southern Section Division IV semifinals, George acknowledges that last season was frustrating at times.

“Last year, there wasn’t any other weapons,” he said. “If I didn’t step up, not too many other people would.”

But if George ever started becoming too selfish or big-headed, he had his two older brothers, Sam and Steve, waiting to bring him back down to earth.

“They helped me out a ton,” he said. “Sometimes, I have a hard time getting along with my teammates. (Sam) will come home and tell me why and it will make a lot of sense. They humble me all the time.”

Having two professional soccer players in the family can be a humbling experience. Sam was the Division I player of the year at Mater Dei and he went on to win an NCAA title at UCLA and serve as an alternate on the 1992 U.S. Olympic team. He plays indoor soccer for the Anaheim Splash.

Steve also played at Mater Dei and was an All-American at Cal State Fullerton. He now plays for the Wichita Wings of the Indoor Soccer League.

Doug George said his youngest son hasn’t done anything to tarnish the family name.

“There’s probably been a lot of pressure,” Doug George said. “We didn’t put any on him, but he puts a lot on himself. However, Seth has accomplished as much as they did at this level, and at this point he’s a far better player than they were. All of the younger kids are becoming better than their older brothers because they get so much help at an early age.”

Seth George doesn’t think he’s necessarily better than his brothers were.

“We’re all different players,” he said. “Sam was more of a role player. He did the dirty work. I play more like my brother Steve. I’m more of a scorer, lazy and laid-back at times. Some games where I’m not involved at all, I’ll come out of nowhere to score.”

College recruiters, however, are not finding George hard to locate. He is being wooed by many of the big-time soccer schools, including UCLA, Fullerton, Fresno State and Notre Dame. A 1,070 score on his Scholastic Aptitude Test has kept George’s options open, but he is leaning toward UCLA.

“I’d like to go pretty local,” he said. “I wouldn’t mind following in my brother’s footsteps.”

Doug George said those footsteps should give Seth instant credibility with any college coach.

“His brothers are two proven four-year starters at the college level and both of them think he’s as good as they were,” he said. “That’s a pretty good thing to go on.”

Boys’ Soccer at a Glance

Top players: Todd Abdalla, Trabuco Hills, goalkeeper, Jr.; Shaun Anderson, Esperanza, fullback, Sr.; Martin Ayala, Servite, defender, Sr.; Sean Bartko, Villa Park, goalkeeper, Sr.; Joey Bove, Fountain Valley, midfielder, Sr.; Travis Clutter, Edison, forward, Sr.; Ryan Fial, Edison, defender, Sr.; Seth George, Santa Margarita, forward, Sr.; Steve Gonzalez, Orange, midfielder, So.; Wes Hale, Sonora, defender, Sr.; Chris Hulgreen, Mater Dei, defender, So.; Eddy Lopez, Saddleback, goalkeeper, Sr.; Juan Lopez, Anaheim, forward, Sr.; Victor Lopez, Orange, sweeper, Sr.; Luis Mejia, Santa Ana Valley, midfielder, Jr.; Cesar Montes, Laguna Hills, halfback, Sr.; Leonard Morales, Laguna Beach, halfback, Sr.; Brian Piesner, Santa Margarita, forward, Jr.; Craig Ritter, Fountain Valley, defender, Sr.; Lalo Rodriguez, Orange, midfielder, Sr.; Timo Rodriguez, Santiago, forward, Sr.; Mike Shumaker, Fullerton, goalkeeper, Sr.; Deiter Segura, El Toro, forward, Sr.; Jeff Templeton, Sunny Hills, fullback, Sr.; Victor Tiborczszeghy, Esperanza, sweeper, Sr.; Joey Vasquez, Fountain Valley, forward, Jr.; Isaac Ugay, Brea-Olinda, sweeper, Sr.; Andy Wirz, Brea-Olinda, forward, Sr.; Jason Wolf, Esperanza, stopper, Sr.; Justin Young, Laguna Beach, forward, Sr.

League favorites: Century: Orange; Empire: Cypress; Freeway: Sonora; Garden Grove: Santiago; Golden West: Santa Ana; Olympic: Orange Lutheran; Orange: Brea-Olinda; Pacific Coast: Laguna Hills; Sea View: Santa Margarita; South Coast: Capistrano Valley; Sunset: Fountain Valley.

1993-94 final poll: 1. Corona del Mar; 2. Santa Ana; 3. Mater Dei; 4. Saddleback; 5. Marina; 6. El Toro; 7. Esperanza; 8. Canyon; 9. Santa Margarita ; 10. Sonora.

1994-95 preseason poll: 1. Fountain Valley; 2. Santa Margarita; 3. Edison; 4. Orange; 5. Esperanza; 6. El Toro; 7. Brea-Olinda; 8. Santa Ana; 9. Capistrano Valley; 10. Corona del Mar.

Key dates: Irvine tournament, through Dec. 10, Brea-Olinda Rotary Classic, Dec. 14-17; Orange tournament, Dec. 27-30; Marina tournament, Dec. 27-29; Southern Section playoffs begin Feb. 17; Southern Section finals, March 3-4.

Notes: Adnan Bayati quit as Santa Ana Valley’s coach, and the Falcons lost nine seniors from last season’s team that finished second in the Century League. New coach Jose Cuesta, an all-league goalkeeper at Valley in 1989, also lost forward Margarito Morales, who transferred to Los Amigos, and forward Javier Valdez, who was killed in a gang shooting two months ago. Cuesta, however, is excited about Mejia, whom he calls the next Francisco Islas, a Times’ All-County player for Valley last season. . . . Coach Ed Carrillo, who was 134-59-23 at Mission Viejo from 1975-86, returns to the school this season.