Surprising Notre Dame Appears on a Mission

Mission League boys’ soccer coaches Rob Kodama of Crespi High, Glen Appels of St. Francis and Michael Gwaltney of Chaminade have something in common.

Before the season, each coach said the league race would be determined by how their teams fared against Notre Dame.

Each was right.

Crespi, Chaminade, St. Francis and Loyola were expected to contend for the league title. Notre Dame was expected to play spoiler.

But the Knights, who were picked by most coaches to finish fifth in the seven-team league, aren’t cooperating. They’ve joined the always-competitive league race, making the Mission standings more complex than they’ve ever been.

“I’ve thrown a few bones in there and told the boys to get their teeth on them,” said Notre Dame Coach Colm McFeeley. “I told them in the chatter I hear that they aren’t getting much respect. They aren’t even being mentioned.”

After opening league play with a 5-1 victory over St. Francis and tying Chaminade, 1-1, the Knights (7-6-1) are being mentioned.

“Some people thought I was crazy, but I always thought they were for real,” Kodama said. “Notre Dame is no different than the rest of us. They are a good team.”

McFeeley said the turnaround began when he told his players Notre Dame used to be considered among the region’s top programs. The Knights qualified for the playoffs in eight of McFeeley’s first 10 years.

Disappointed with the team’s two-year drought, McFeeley has helped the Knights change their attitude and believe in themselves again.

After starting 2-5, the Knights are 5-1-1 in their last seven games behind a high-powered offense led by seniors Jimmy Sharp and Nick Folk.

“If you get some hiccups on the way, hopefully you’ll be able to iron them out by the time league starts,” McFeeley said.

The Knights have ironed the kinks in time for critics to overlook their poor nonleague record. This season, only a few losses could eliminate a team from playoff contention in the tight Mission race.

“You always have to be highly competitive in this league,” McFeeley said. “I think it speaks volumes for the league. The competitiveness of our league helps us enormously when we get to playoffs.

“The competitiveness may leave a few teams out [of the playoffs], but in the long term I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

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The success of the Valencia girls’ team has been based on unity, chemistry and fun, but their camaraderie extends beyond the soccer field.

In the last two weeks, the Vikings have traded two practice days to attend movies and go to dinner. Saturday, the team will depart from Port Hueneme to go sport fishing.

“I’m very demanding of the players at games and at training, but I make sure that I schedule time for the girls to relax as a team,” Coach Tony Scalercio said. “To build team chemistry, we trade training sessions to go to movies and eat together.”

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After losing four defensive starters from a team that won a fourth consecutive Southern Section title, the Chaminade girls were expected to struggle this season.

But the Eagles (10-4-2) have been a surprise, and defense has carried them.

Led by underclassmen Meghan Powers, Nasrin Pak, Courtney Hooker and senior Lauren Nussbaum, the Chaminade defense has yielded 13 goals, four fewer than last year’s team had given up at this point.

Goalkeeper Candice Rodella, who had no varsity experience before this season, has recorded nine shutouts and 103 saves.

“Everybody knows who we put on our schedule, and only giving up 13 goals is amazing,” Coach Mike Evans said. “Knowing that four or five girls have graduated, I wouldn’t have expected to be so strong defensively at this point of the season. I always say defense wins championships and we’ve proved that over the last four seasons.”

Senior forwards Tara Donoghue and Kim Taylor have paced the Eagles offensively, scoring 19 of the team’s 30 goals.

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Rio Mesa defender Chris Schwarze, who was expected to return this week after breaking his foot in November, will miss the remainder of the season to rehabilitate the injury.

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Harvard Westlake’s Gina Farias Eisner and Tracey Lansing, Valencia’s Shari Summers and El Camino Real’s Jessica Harris spent last weekend in Las Vegas playing with the state Olympic Development under-16 team.

The team finished the tournament 4-1, including a 2-0 victory over Colorado in the final.

Harris scored a goal in a 7-0 semifinal victory over Nevada. The team returns to Las Vegas in March to represent the western United States in the national championships.

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The state under-18 team also won a tournament title in Las Vegas, finishing 3-0-1.

Harvard Westlake’s Jill Oakes, Buena’s Natalie Sanderson and Lisa Engel, and Chaminade’s Kim Taylor all participated. Oakes scored the winning goal in a 1-0 victory over Northern California.

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The Top 10

Rankings of soccer teams from the Valley and Ventura County region

BOYS

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RK LW School (League) Rec. 1 1 El Camino Real (West Vly) 14-3 2 2 Crespi (Mission) 12-2 3 3 Royal (Marmonte) 16-3-2 4 4 Chaminade (Mission) 7-5-2 5 5 Quartz Hill (Golden) 16-1-1 6 6 Reseda (Valley Mission) 15-4-1 7 7 Ventura (Channel) 9-2-4 8 8 Thousand Oaks (Marmonte) 7-2-4 9 9 Rio Mesa (Pacific View) 9-5-2 10 10 St. Francis (Mission) 9-4

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GIRLS

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RK LW School (League) Rec. 1 1 Buena (Channel) 15-1-1 2 2 Westlake (Marmonte) 6-0-3 3 3 Harvard-Westlake (Mission) 7-1-4 4 4 Hart (Foothill) 8-5-3 5 5 Valencia (Foothill) 14-1-4 6 6 Chaminade (Mission) 10-4-2 7 7 Louisville (Mission) 11-4-1 8 8 Canyon (Foothill) 14-1-4 9 9 Quartz Hill (Golden) 1-2-1 10 10 El Camino Real (West Vly) 9-1-1

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