Mission Viejo’s James Was a Sweep Sensation

In the rough-and-tumble South Coast League, where every game was a battle, and in the Southern Section Division I playoffs, where the Mission Viejo girls’ soccer team was at its best, the Diablos found that their best defense was, well, a great defense.

Senior sweeper Nicky James was the central defender on a stalwart back line that helped Mission Viejo (16-3-8, 5-1-4) claim a hard-won league championship and a share of its second section title in three seasons.

The title was Mission Viejo’s seventh in girls’ soccer and the second of James’ career.

“It ended up being a perfect season,” said James, The Times’ girls’ soccer player of the year and the section’s Division I defensive player of the year.

James, a four-year varsity starter who used speed, determination and field vision to anticipate opponents’ moves, was something of a rover for the Diablos, dropping back to serve as the last line of defense in front of goalkeeper Katie Wright when needed and pushing forward to help a struggling offense at other times.

She scored once this season, in a 1-0 nonleague victory over Corona del Mar, but has always been most at home on defense.

“Good defense just comes with being comfortable and calm back there,” she said. “You don’t need to be the biggest person out there, you just have to read the game and play smart.”

James, who will play at Drake next season, shares credit with teammates Wright, Kelly Raby, Bethany Haynes, Ashley Keene and Jasmine Christian. The group gave up an average of less than one goal, only one goal in five playoff games, and posted 14 shutouts.

“This year was great,” James said. “I wanted to go out at least having fun, and go out with the team feeling good.” That feeling didn’t come until days after the Diablos tied San Clemente, 1-1, in the Division I championship game. Mission Viejo also played to a 1-1 draw with Ventura Buena in the 2001 Division II title game.

“I was actually really upset at first,” James said, “because I knew how it felt from the past, and you just want to continue playing until somebody wins and somebody loses.

“But if that really would have happened and then you lose, you wouldn’t be happy either. And now we have another one under our belt, so I think everything worked out for the best.”

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PLAYER OF THE YEAR

*--* Nicky James Mission Viejo Sr FIRST TEAM Shari Summers Valencia Sr Forward / Stanford-bound Summers used speed, skill and toughness to collect 13 goals and 10 assists for Southern Section Division II runner-up Lindsey Redlin Chatsworth Sr Forward / The Pepperdine signee has exceptional speed, which helped her score 38 goals and lead Chatsworth to City Section semifinals Kelly Cochran Westlake Sr Midfielder / Division II offensive player of the year and UC San Diego signee had team-leading 17 goals and 13 assists as Warriors won their first title Michelle Gleason El Toro Sr Midfielder / UCLA signee had seven goals and six assists while leading the area’s most surprising team to Division I semifinals Kandice McLaughlin El Camino Real Jr Midfielder / City player of the year had 22 goals and 11 assists as Conquistadores won their third consecutive section title McCall Zerboni San Clemente So Midfielder / Division I offensive player of the year had nine goals and eight assists to help Tritons win share of division championship Aubrey Medal Westlake Sr Defender / Division II defensive player of year shined for Westlake, which gave up only nine goals, posted 13 shutouts and never trailed in a game Kelly Little Long Beach Wilson Jr Defender / A stopper with excellent offensive skills, Little had 18 goals and was a big reason the Bruins yielded only 12 goals and had 18 shutouts Ali Vislay Capistrano Valley Sr Defender / Scored seven goals and helped Cougars post seven shutouts after a midseason switch from midfielder to sweeper Katie Wright Mission Viejo Sr Goalkeeper / Nebraska signee posted 14 shutouts to help Diablos to share of their seventh Southern Section title SECOND TEAM Kristin Anderson (F) South Pasadena Sr Eva Dixon (F) South Pasadena Fr Gina Farias-Eisner (M) Harvard-Westlake Sr Shannon Foley (M) Santa Margarita Sr Brittany Klein (M) Arcadia Jr Carrie Murphy (M) Westlake Sr Katie Oakes (M) El Camino Real Fr Alicia Lloyd (D) El Toro Sr Courtney Saldivar (D) Walnut Sr Jill Sharp (D) Pasadena Poly Sr Krista Clinton (G) Oak Park Sr Coach of the Year: Tony Scalercio, Valencia Fashioned a team composed of one standout and a group of role players into Southern Section Division II runner-up. Vikings fell to Westlake, 2-0, in their first appearance in a title game

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