Less Means More at Irvine, Mission Viejo

Mission Viejo Coach Greg Naber and Irvine Coach Rich Breza had a lot of burned-out, worn-out and banged-up players last season. As a result, their promising teams staggered toward the finish and didn’t qualify for the playoffs.

Neither Naber nor Breza was about to let that happen again. So this season, both coaches decided to employ the “less is best” strategy.

Mission Viejo and Irvine played only nine nonleague games and competed in one holiday tournament this season, considerably fewer than most of the county’s top-ranked teams. But neither team seems to be missing those extra games--Mission Viejo is 4-0-1 in the South Coast League after starting 2-7, and Irvine is 2-1-1 in the Sea View League after a 6-1-2 nonleague record.

Mission Viejo hasn’t won a league title in 10 years and Breza said Irvine has never won one, but both teams have excellent chances this season.

Coincidence?

“No, I think there’s something to the fact that we’ve haven’t played that many games,” said Breza, whose team started 12-2-1 last year but finished fourth in league. “There’s not as much irritation with practice. We’ve only had four or five home games, so the kids are pretty excited when they have one. And it’s kept us from getting injured. If your goal is to win league, less games [is] better. If it’s to be ranked in the county or section polls, then more games [is] better.”

Naber agrees, but he took an even more drastic approach than Breza. Naber allowed his best players to miss early season practices and games so they could go on recruiting trips or honor their Olympic Development Program commitments. He started at least five reserves for much of the nonleague season.

“Playing all those tournaments does build team unity, but these kids play club soccer right before the high school season,” said Naber, who coached club teams for nine years. “They need a break early in the high school season. This is a change in philosophy for me, but I think it works.

“I lost these guys last year during league. The seniors had played so many games, the games all ran together. They said, ‘We don’t need this anymore.’ I’m looking around at my competition, Trabuco Hills and Capistrano Valley, who played three tournaments. They’re struggling.”

After beating only Laguna Beach and Saddleback in nonleague play, Mission Viejo (6-7-1) has defeated Capistrano Valley, 3-0, El Toro, 1-0, Dana Hills, 1-0, and San Clemente, 2-0.

The Diablos tied Trabuco Hills, 1-1. Capistrano Valley, El Toro and Trabuco Hills were ranked in the county’s top 10 when they played Mission Viejo.

“These guys are so focused now,” said Naber, in his second year at Mission Viejo. “You should see our practices. These guys are motivated.”

Breza said the only downside to playing only 13 games is that his leading scorer, Matt Taylor, hasn’t gotten more chances to score. Taylor is tied with El Dorado’s Ignacio Cid for the county lead with 31 goals.

“If we were already at 20 games, Matt could probably have 50 goals,” Breza said. “But then if he had 20 games in him, he might be hurt. Or somebody else who’s getting him the ball could be hurt. Matt got hurt last year in a consolation tournament game that didn’t mean anything.”

LOOKING AHEAD

Mission Viejo can nearly clinch one of the South Coast League’s three automatic playoff spots and go a long way toward winning its first league title since 1990 with a home victory over second-place Dana Hills (8-8-2, 3-2) Wednesday. On Friday at Huntington Beach, the Smith brothers--Jason and Kevin--meet again. Jason’s Fountain Valley team won the first game, 2-1, at Orange Coast College behind John Clark’s two goals.

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 david.mckibben@latimes.com