Northridge’s Davila Secures Top-Notch Recruiting Class

It might not take long for Cal State Northridge to replace premier players who recently graduated such as defender Jon Relles and forwards Mike Preis and Federico Arroyo.

Second-year Coach Terry Davila has put together one of the best recruiting classes in Northridge history.

Davila is using local talent to build a program that hasn’t fully adjusted to moving to Division I in 1990. Northridge has never had this many outstanding recruits at one time.

Davila’s top recruit is Birmingham midfielder John Ortega, who chose the Matadors over UCLA and Boston College because he wants to make a name for San Fernando Valley soccer.

“It would be nice to give the program national attention,” Ortega said.

Grant midfielder Lelys Palacious, the City Section’s assist leader; Reseda forward Edwin Miranda, a two-time Times’ all-region selection; and Burbank midfielder Andres Oropeza, the Bulldogs’ leading scorer, also are coming to Northridge.

More commitments are expected.

“This is my home,” Palacious said. “I want to represent the Valley. I know Terry and he can make me into a better player and person.”

Davila also signed two highly regarded players from the San Diego area: forward Charles Mitchell and 6-foot-3 defender Peado Woodson.

Also headed to Northridge are Miguel Meneses and Steven Raynor from Pasadena City College. Meneses, Burroughs’ all-time assists leader, is a former Foothill League most valuable player.

Davila also has added two local high school coaches to his staff. Keith West, an assistant for the Harvard-Westlake girls’ team, replaces Ivan Alzate. Tony Scalercio, coach of the Valencia girls’ team, replaces Jeff Blumkin.

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Five players from the region helped the California-South Regional Olympic Development girls’ under-16 team to the Western Region championship in Phoenix last weekend.

Jenna Fodor (Chatsworth High), April Millado (Louisville), Jyene Mack (Ventura), Jaime Rendich (Canyon) and Lindsey Weening (Chaminade)--all members of the Valley United Stars--will return to Phoenix on Feb. 18 to play for the national championship.

Cal-South defeated Northern California, 2-0, New Mexico, 2-0, Oregon, 2-0 and Colorado, 3-0. Fodor scored two goals against Colorado and Weening had a goal against Oregon.

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Jesse Servin (Reseda), Josh Boys (Buena), Leonard Griffin (Littlerock), Lindon Pecorelli (Crescenta Valley) and Mike Enfield (Ventura) represented the Cal-South team in the boys’ under-18 division of the tournament.

Cal-South defeated Montana, 8-1, and New Mexico, 4-0, before falling to Cal-North, 3-0, in the final.

In three games, Enfield had three assists and Griffin, a defender, had two goals.

Griffin has been selected to the under-20 U.S. national team. The senior, who will play for UCLA in the fall, was among 22 players chosen to the squad. Griffin leads Littlerock with 15 goals in 12 games.

“To get a chance to represent your country at the highest level is an honor,” Griffin said.

Raul Calderon (St. Francis) was goalkeeper for the under-16 team.

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Buena forward Natalie Sanderson has been chosen to the NSCAA/Adidas under-16 Youth All-American team. Sanderson joins Harvard-Westlake forward Imani Dorsey as the only players from the region selected All-Americans.

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Recruiting updates:

Chatsworth forward Shannon De Vos, who previously committed to Oregon State, has committed to Northridge. . . .

Servin has accepted a scholarship to play at Oregon State. . . .

Birmingham defender Mike Erush has narrowed his choices to Loyola Marymount and UCLA. . . .

Harvard-Westlake goalkeeper Sara Deckers is close to signing with American University. . . .

Westlake defender Allyson Trowbridge is close to committing to Georgetown. . . .

Louisville defender Nicole Farenbaugh has added Arizona to her list of potential schools.

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The Top 10

Rankings of region soccer teams

BOYS

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RK LW School (League) Rec. 1 1 Birmingham (West Valley) 14-2-2 2 4 Ventura (Channel) 15-1-7 3 2 Buena (Channel) 12-5-3 4 5 St. Francis (Mission) 18-3-3 5 3 El Camino Real (West Vly) 14-4-4 6 7 Thousand Oaks (Marmonte) 14-4-3 7 8 Reseda (Valley Mission) 9-3-3 8 9 La Canada (Rio Hondo) 11-1 9 10 Chaminade (Mission) 14-4-1 10 6 Calabasas (Frontier) 16-1-1

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GIRLS

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RK LW School (League) Rec. 1 1 Buena (Channel) 25-0 2 2 Harvard-Westlake (Mission) 15-2-4 3 3 Westlake (Marmonte) 14-2-2 4 5 Chaminade (Mission) 16-4-4 5 6 Crescenta Valley (Pacific) 13-3-3 6 7 Hart (Foothill) 11-4-1 7 4 Louisville (Mission) 11-5-6 8 8 Agoura (Marmonte) 12-3-1 9 9 Chatsworth (West Valley) 10-3-1 10 10 Quartz Hill (Golden) 14-1-2

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