HIGH FLYING: The Santa Margarita High girls’...

HIGH FLYING: The Santa Margarita High girls’ soccer team has been ranked No. 1 all season by the Orange County Coaches’ Assn. and has rarely been challenged. The force behind the Eagles is a core of players who play together on a successful club team in the off-season. . . . Five of them led the Mission Viejo Shamrocks to the 16-and-under national final last year. . . . The Eagles are the Southern Section Division I championship.

STAR SEARCH: UC Irvine’s women’s soccer team was ranked in the top 20 in the nation for the first time in history last season and finished with a school-record 12-4-3 mark. Three of the top four scorers were freshmen, but that hasn’t stopped Coach Marine Cano’s quest to find young guns. Last week, Laurie Lamb, an All-Sunset League forward at Edison High, made an oral commitment to attend Irvine. . . . “To reach the playoff level, you have to have three players in double figures,” says Cano. . . . Freshman Nicole Bucciarelli led Irvine with 12 goals and two assists last season.

EAGER COACH: Al Mistri’s Cal State Fullerton men’s soccer team has been in the NCAA playoffs two of the past three seasons, reaching the Final Four in 1993 and the quarterfinals in 1994. Though the team missed an at-large berth last season, Mistri has set his sights on a strong comeback next fall. In fact, he’s so enthusiastic that he has scheduled a pair of international soccer exhibition matches in Titan Stadium in February. . . . “It will give our new team some early experience at a high level, “ Mistri says.

SHUTOUT MAN: Goalkeeper Aldo Zuniga is a big reason the Orange High Panthers are ranked fourth in the county. A three-year starter, he had shutouts in eight of Orange’s first 11 wins. . . . “He’s been a great help to our defense,” says Orange Coach Sal Anaya. “We’d be in a lot of trouble without him.” . . . Anaya’s favorite Zuniga save? “Against Foothill, the ball was in the upper corner, almost in the net, and he suddenly deflected the ball into the corner with his off hand.”