Diablos, Cougars Take Game Personally

When the Mission Viejo and Capistrano Valley girls’ soccer teams take the field tonight in the Southern Section Division I championship game at Cerritos Gahr High, you probably won’t see many players sharing smiles and hugs--either before or after the game.

This is personal.

The South Coast League and cross-town rivals are out to finish a battle that began two years ago, when Mission Viejo defeated Capistrano Valley, 2-1, in overtime in a Division I semifinal.

A number of the girls play on opposing club teams as well, but Cougar seniors Kim Abbamonto and Aurelin Wiedner say there really was no rivalry until Mission Viejo players defaced Capistrano Valley’s field before the teams’ first meeting this season. A derogatory statement was written in the middle of the playing field, using flour.

“Yeah, a couple of our girls anonymously went over there and wrote on the field,” Mission Viejo Coach George Larsen said.

No disciplinary action was taken by either school.

“I don’t think it’s a rivalry,” Capistrano Valley Coach Jack Peterson said. “It’s personal. They play against each other, they play with each other and there are likes and dislikes out there. What they did to our field made it more personal.

“That is the kind of thing coaches love. It was harmless and nothing was hurt. It was just a high school prank.”

Capistrano Valley junior Tiffany Landgraff said what happened during that overtime loss in 1996 hurt more than any prank.

Landgraff and her teammates contend Mission Viejo scored its winning goal on a hand ball.

Peterson, who coached at Santa Margarita at the time, was watching from the stands that night and agrees.

In fact, the hand ball incident has been acknowledged by nearly everyone, including Capistrano Valley junior varsity coach Marcus McGee, who was an assistant coach for Mission Viejo that season.

“Oh, it definitely was a hand ball,” McGee said. “It was a big joke at Mission’s banquet that year, everyone was laughing about it.”

Mission Viejo went on to share the Division I co-championship with Los Alamitos that season.

Since then, Capistrano Valley has been out to prove it is the better team.

Last season, the Cougars defeated and tied Mission Viejo on their way to winning the league title. This season, the teams played to two ties, 0-0 and 1-1, but Capistrano Valley again won the league title.

Over the last four seasons, the series is even, 2-2-4.

“The whole season we have been second to them, so when we beat them [tonight] it will be all better,” Mission Viejo senior Kate Desmond said.

“It’s a dream to end a senior year this way,” said Sarah Higham, a four-year starter for the Diablos. “Going against our biggest rival in front of a big crowd. It’s a really physical game. You look forward to it. You know its going to be a battle.”

Said Abbamonto: “We are going to put everything we have into it. Then we’ll talk later.”