Sweeping Move Lifts Dana Hills

Sergio Rivera’s days at sweeper could be over for Dana Point Dana Hills High. The 6-foot, 170-pound senior had been Dana Point’s starting sweeper since his freshman season, but Coach Dennis Korinke moved him to midfield for last week’s Brea Olinda tournament in an effort to give the Dolphins more offensive punch.

The change worked as Dana Hills (7-3-1) won the tournament title Saturday with a 3-1 victory over defending champion Irvine Woodbridge, the top-ranked team in the nation in Student Sports magazine’s winter soccer poll.

“That made us a little more offensive,” Korinke said about Rivera’s position change. “We’d been having trouble scoring goals, but putting Sergio alongside [Chris Klotz] made us harder to defend.”

Dana Hills, which lost to Woodbridge, 2-0, in a nonleague game Dec. 7, gave up only five goals in its first six games of the season. But the Dolphins had been shut out three times during a 3-3 start.

Dana Hills played to a scoreless tie with La Mirada in a pool play opener of the Brea Olinda tournament on Dec. 19, but the Dolphins scored 15 goals in winning their final four games of the tournament.

Ryan Altergott, Chris Chegren and Rivera each scored a goal in the victory against Woodbridge after Nick Garton had two goals--including the game-winner with two minutes left--in a 4-3 semifinal win against host Brea Olinda.

“We weren’t thinking about winning the tournament when we started,” said Rivera, a third-team All-Southern Section Division I selection as a junior. “We just looked at it as a game-by-game, match-by-match thing. We weren’t looking ahead to the later rounds, but as other teams started being eliminated, we did start to think about the possibility of playing Woodbridge.”

Chegren didn’t play in Dana Hills’ earlier loss to Woodbridge because his left forearm became extremely swollen after being bitten by a spider, but he was instrumental in the Dolphins’ victory Saturday.

Not only did he score a goal, but he did an admirable job defending Pieter Berger, Woodbridge’s top forward who is headed to California on a scholarship.

“Berger did score for them, but he didn’t get many opportunities,” Korinke said. “Chris did a good job making it difficult for him to get the ball.”

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High-quality fields: Many of the area’s top teams will play in the Huntington Beach Marina or Mission Viejo Trabuco Hills tournaments that start today and end Saturday.

Millikan, Fountain Valley, Marina, Dana Hills, Anaheim Esperanza and Santa Ana Mater Dei are among the 32 teams in the Marina tournament.

Woodbridge, Santa Margarita, Lake Forest El Toro and Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley are four of the 18 teams in the Trabuco Hills tournament.

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THE TIMES’ RANKINGS

A look at the top 10 boys’ soccer teams in the Southland:

1. Alta Loma (10-0-1, SS-Mt. Baldy)

Braves have outscored three opponents, 10-2, since shootout loss in Long Beach Millikan tournament final.

2. Millikan (11-1, SS-Moore)

Defending Southern Section Division I champion Rams play Los Amigos in Marina tournament opener today.

3. Woodbridge (7-1, SS-Sea View)

Warriors drop two spots after 3-1 loss to Dana Hills in championship of Brea Olinda tournament.

4. Chaparral

(11-1-1, SS-Southwestern)

Pumas suffered their first loss of season to Riverside Rubidoux in the Riverside Poly tournament.

5. Fountain Valley (7-0-1, SS-Sunset)

Barons beat Costa Mesa Estancia, 4-0, in their only game last week.

6. Santa Margarita

(11-1-1, SS-Serra)

Eagles move up two spots after advancing to championship of elite bracket in Puma Invitational in Tampa, Fla., last week.

7. Marina (7-0-3, SS-Sunset)

Last Friday’s game against Northwood was rained out.

8. Nogales (7-2, SS-Sierra)

Nobles drop six spots after finishing sixth in premier bracket play in Puma Invitational.

9. Quartz Hill (10-0, SS-Golden)

Rebels won’t play again until Royal tournament begins next Wednesday.

10. Dana Hills

(7-3-1, SS-South Coast)

Dolphins went 4-0-1 and outscored their opponents, 15-4, winning the Brea Olinda tournament last week.