UC IRVINE NOTEBOOK / JOHN WEYLER : Soccer Team Adopting Cano’s Aggressive Style
It’s only his second year as the UC Irvine women’s soccer coach but Marine Cano has already put his signature on the team. Cano--who always seems as if he’s had a couple too many cups of coffee--undoubtedly scribbled it in a hurry, but his mark will soon be as clear as John Hancock’s.
“The whole program has changed,” junior midfielder Claudia Ruggiero said. “I was recruited as a sweeper, but Marine decided I was an offensive player. My role has changed, a lot of people’s roles have changed.
“And now with all these different girls, it’s definitely Marine’s team. He brought in girls who will play his style. They all have a lot of speed because that’s the way he likes to play.”
Cano recruited 13 players, four of whom are starters, and they will play an attacking style patterned after the way Cano attacks every day of his life.
Still, they are inexperienced and will require time to jell, right? Cano will have to patient, right?
“I guess I have to do that, show some patience,” he said, pronouncing the word as if it were in a foreign language. “But I don’t really think that way. We’re young, but I really like what I see. I’ve already talked to them and said, ‘OK, you’re a rookie, but you’re a starter. You’re not a freshman, you’re a player. There’ll be no excuses about how old you are.”’
Freshmen Kori Zimmerman, from La Canada High, Jaime Reichenbach from San Diego Scripps Ranch High, Simone Ferrara, from South Torrance High, and Dena Lundy of Bakersfield High, will start.
And freshman Nicole Bucciarelli, two-time Los Angeles player of the year from Van Nuys Grant High, will come off the bench and play a lot of minutes.
Zimmerman, Reichenbach and Ferrara all play in the Olympic Development Program. Ferrara, a midfielder, was a section champion in the 1,600-meter run and holds South Torrance High records in the 800 and 1,600.
“Ferrara is just a little thing, but she’s already had her world rocked a couple of times and she gets right back up,” Cano said. “And she can run the field all day, get assists and score goals. She’s going to be a superstar. Reichenbach is a really solid defender who has already made the Olympic Development regional team and has an excellent chance of making the under-19 national team.”
Zimmerman will start at the spot Cano calls “withdrawn forward,” a center forward position slightly behind the two strikers on the wings. Bucciarelli will also play that position.
“Kori is a kid who lives near me in Torrance and I’ve watched her play since she was 5,” Cano said. “It came down to us and St. Mary’s at the end. We’re really lucky to have her. She has a ton of skills, can attack, pass and play defense. Bucciarelli looks at me every day and says, ‘I’m going to be starting, Coach,’ and then she goes out in practice and tries to make sure of it.”
And Cano is very excited about Lundy, who went unnoticed by most college recruiters. She will be paired opposite Traci Manz, the sophomore striker from Estancia High who led the Anteaters in scoring last year with a school-record 12 goals.
“No one knew about Dena, but I’ll tell you, she can score goals just for fun,” Cano said. “She and Traci will go up front together and they’re very similar personalities. They’re both mean and they love to put the ball in the back of the net.”
Manz, who was definitely a marked women last season, is looking forward to playing with an otherwise all-freshman front line.
“There will be other people to help me this year,” she said. “We’re kind of short, but we’re hustlers and I think we can do the job. We need some time to work together, so we should keep getting better.
“I’m a totally aggressive person who’s used to getting hacked and stuff. I don’t know if we’re aggressive enough as a unit yet, but they’re freshmen and they’ll come along.”
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Party-animal Prez: The Anteaters’ season-opener Saturday night against St. Mary’s in Hawaii was canceled because President Clinton’s helicopter was parked on the soccer field.
Clinton was supposed to leave Hawaii at 5 p.m. local time, clearing the field for the 8 p.m. game, but according to Irvine senior Kim Kaitanjian, the teams were told that the President was invited to play the sax at a party at Bob Hope’s house.
Apparently, the partying ran late. The game was postponed until 9, and then 10, and finally canceled.
The helicopter was gone by Sunday, however, and Irvine opened its season with a 3-1 victory over Hawaii.
Anteater Notes
Marine Cano’s women won’t be the only Anteater soccer team charging the nets this season. First-year men’s Coach George Kuntz was hired by Cano, who is also Irvine’s Director of Soccer, because they have the same philosophy. “We’re going to create goal-scoring opportunities and score goals,” Kuntz said. “It’s exciting soccer, the players love it and I think the proof is in the pudding. We’re starting to get a number of Orange County kids that we couldn’t get to come to Irvine in the past.” Irvine, which has eight freshmen from Orange County, five of whom played at Irvine high schools, lost its opener Saturday to Southern California College, 2-1. . . . The women’s volleyball team won the ninth-annual Anteater Invitational for the first time since 1992 with victories over Northern Arizona and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and a loss to Auburn. Senior Popi Edwards was named most valuable player. Setter Meredith Fletcher and outside hitter Cynthia Trotter were named to the all-tournament team. . . . The men’s and women’s cross-country teams make their 1995 debut Saturday during the Fullerton Invitational at Carbon Canyon Regional Park in Brea. . . . The water polo season begins Friday and Saturday in the Southern California Tournament at USC.
