Barons Wonder What They Have to Do to Get Ranked

Fountain Valley Coach Jason Smith accepted the first snub as an oversight. But when he didn’t see his team among the top 10 in the latest Southern Section Division I poll, he began to take it personally.

“I don’t see what more we have to do,” Smith said. “You’d have to be undefeated to have a better record than us.”

Not only is Fountain Valley’s record a sparkling 13-1-1 overall and 4-0 in the Sunset League, the Barons have defeated second-ranked Long Beach Poly, 3-0, and sixth-ranked Esperanza, 2-1. They also have victories over Huntington Beach and Mater Dei, ranked second and fourth in Division II. Their only defeat was a 2-1 loss to Santa Margarita, ranked first in Orange County and first in Division III.

“It sounds to me like the guy doing the poll is not really on top of things,” Smith said. “I wonder if they’re even getting our information. We’ve got to be in the top three, don’t we?”

Fountain Valley is second in the Orange County poll, but the section poll carries more weight because it directly affects how teams are seeded in the playoffs. Murrieta Valley Coach Harry Hutcheson, who is in charge of the Division I poll, could not be reached for comment.

EAGLES OVERCOME JINX

Estancia isn’t getting much respect in the section poll either. The Eagles are 9-1-1 and have outscored their opponents by a staggering margin of 67-4, yet they are not ranked in Division IV.

“I’m not that concerned,” Estancia Coach Steve Crenshaw said. “I’m not sure the kids even know they’re not ranked. The bottom line is how does it end up at the end of the season.”

Crenshaw said he was more worried about beating Laguna Beach than seeing his team appear in the rankings. Estancia had lost seven consecutive games to the Artists before finally beating them last year. In 1997 and ‘98, Laguna Beach swept Estancia during the regular season and ousted the Eagles from the playoffs.

“They’ve pretty much owned us,” Crenshaw said. “They’ve whacked us around pretty good. They play that ‘old English’ style. It isn’t pretty, but it’s effective.”

It wasn’t very effective last week, though--Estancia walloped Laguna Beach, 8-0.

“We just steamrollered them,” Crenshaw said. “We took out a lot of frustration.”

BAUER SURPRISES TROOPS

Santa Margarita was planning on playing its biggest game of the year--Friday’s showdown with Mater Dei--without Coach Curt Bauer, who was supposed to be in Florida accepting a regional coaching award from the National Soccer Coaches Assn. of America. But Bauer, who played and coached at Mater Dei, surprised his team by showing up 15 minutes before game time.

“I’m thinking to myself, ‘I can’t leave. What kind of coach would I be?’ ” Bauer said.

Said Spencer George, who had a goal and an assist in Santa Margarita’s 3-1 victory: “Our coach made a big sacrifice to be here. We wanted to go out and win for him.”

LOOKING AHEAD

Sixth-ranked Woodbridge (11-3-4, 1-0-1) meets ninth-ranked Irvine (7-1-3, 2-0) and high-scoring forward Matt Taylor Friday at Irvine. Taylor, who missed both games against Woodbridge last year with a foot injury, has scored 29 goals, including five in Wednesday’s 5-2 victory over Aliso Niguel.

If you have an item or idea for the boys’ soccer report, you can fax us at (714) 966-5663 or e-mail us at:

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