Standing Their Ground

Edgar Melik-Stepanyan

GLENDALE -- The 2001-2002 high school boys’ soccer season was a little

less than a week away and KiLai Kolar and Sean O’Connor were already

going at it with choice words.

At the end of their photo shoot with teammates and rival schools for

this paper, the two seniors couldn’t hold back trash talking to each

other about an upcoming club tournament.

But before Kolar, a midfielder for La Canada High, walked to his car,

O’Connor, a goalkeeper for St. Francis, had the last word.

Just in case Kolar had a mental lapse, O’Connor reminded him that it

was the Golden Knights, not the Spartans, who won last year’s CIF

Southern Section Division IV title.

The message was heard loud and clear by Kolar. The statement has been

echoed to all of the teams in the division.

St. Francis Coach Glen Appels, in his 13th year, realizes his team

will be in a dogfight in every match as opponents try to dethrone the

Golden Knights, who return eight players from last year’s Mission League

champions, including four All-Area selections.

“We know what goes along with the CIF championship,” Appels said. “We

know everywhere we play, there will be people wanting to beat us. We

realize the difficult task at hand.”

Despite the graduation of All-Area co-Player of the Year, Ryan Shaw,

now at UC Davis, and starting forward Matt Nicchitta, St. Francis is

primed to make another run at the title.

O’Connor was simply dominating last year, allowing just 23 goals in 28

matches. The scary part for opponents is that he’s stronger and more

experienced, meaning he’ll probably be twice as good.

Returning on an already impressive defense is Jeff Fawcett and Luke

Postlewaite.

Shaw, last season’s divisional Offensive Player of the Year, did the

bulk of the scoring, tallying an area-best 30 goals. Appels will need

senior forwards Carlos Marco and Daniel Paladini to increase their

scoring to have a balanced attack.

“What we have to do is look at scoring from different positions,”

Appels said.

The Golden Knights, ranked No. 10 in the National Soccer Coaches Assn.

of America preseason winter poll, will travel to Florida to play in the

Dec. 20-22 PUMA Invitational Tournament with other nationally ranked

teams.

Senior defenders George Swaner and Will Penniall, and Kolar will lead

an inexperienced La Canada team that graduated 11 seniors, including

eight All-Rio Hondo League selections and four All-CIF players.

For the first time in his tenure, Spartan co-Coach Louie Bilowitz, who

will retire at the end of the season, will implement a zone scheme.

Because of the graduation of league Offensive Player of the Year, Eric

Irvine, now at Santa Clara, and most of his scoring punch, Bilowitz will

experiment with a five-man offensive attack, instead of the custom eight

that the 15th year coach likes to use.

“I have no idea yet how much the young kids are going to step up,”

Bilowitz said. “The preseason is going to be a learning experience. I

don’t care what our win-loss record is in the preseason.”

Also making headlines in the area are Flintridge Prep and Hoover.

The Rebels return seven starters from last season, including senior

sweeper Joel Lipman. Steve Oderkirk’s team was inconsistent at times last

year, but played strong when they had to, reaching the quarterfinals of

the Division V playoffs.

“I believe in peaking at the right time,” Oderkirk said.

Hoover, which returns its top scorer, Argeen Nazarian, will compete

with Glendale and Crescenta Valley for postseason berths in the Pacific

League.

ST. FRANCIS

COACH: Glen Appels, 13th year.

LEAGUE: Mission.

LAST SEASON: 23-5, 9-3 league champions. Won CIF Southern Section

Division IV title, defeating Pomona Diamond Ranch, 3-1.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Carlos Marco, senior, forward; Daniel Paladini,

senior, forward; Jeff Fawcett, junior, defender; Luke Postlewaite,

junior, defender; Sean O’Connor, senior, goalkeeper.

APPELS’ QUOTE: “I like the guys we have. We realize the difficult task

at hand.”

LA CANADA

COACHES: Louie Bilowitz, 15th year, Raffi Moran, first year.

LEAGUE: Rio Hondo.

LAST SEASON: 22-1-1, 10-0 league champions. Lost in semifinals of CIF

Southern Section Division IV playoffs to Pomona Diamond Ranch, 2-0.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: George Swaner, senior, defender; Will Penniall,

senior, defender; KiLai Kolar, senior, midfielder; Michael Brady,

sophomore, midfielder; Brent Callister, junior, midfielder; Lincoln

Allan, senior, forward.

BILOWITZ’S QUOTE: “At the end of the year we’ll have a very solid

team. The potential is there.”

FLINTRIDGE PREP

COACH: Steve Oderkirk, second year.

LEAGUE: Prep.

LAST SEASON: 7-10-5, 3-2-3 in league for second place. Lost in

quarterfinals of CIF Southern Section Division V playoffs to San Juan

Capistrano St. Margaret’s, 5-1.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Joel Lipman, senior, sweeper; Dominic Capaldi,

junior, forward; Sean Pramov, junior, goalkeeper.

ODERKIRK’S QUOTE: “I think we could be as good as a team or better

than last year. We’re going to be a fast team with good ball control.”

CRESCENTA VALLEY

COACH: Bob Berger, first year.

LEAGUE: Pacific.

LAST SEASON: 7-15-3, 4-4-2 in league for third place. Lost in

wild-card round of CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs to Baldwin

Park, 1-1 (7-6 on penalty kicks).

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Sevada Baghoumian, senior, goalkeeper; Bill Parnum,

junior, forward; Chris Ragsdale, junior, midfielder; Cody Burkholder,

senior, midfielder.

BERGER’S QUOTE: “I look at this team to be a quite a bit better from

last year’s team. We have great athletes.”

HOOVER

COACH: Mark Rubio, 12th year.

LEAGUE: Pacific.

LAST SEASON: 11-11-5, 3-5-2 in league for fourth place. Did not

qualify for playoffs.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Argeen Nazarian, junior, forward; Agustin Park,

senior, midfielder; Lewis Rodriguez, senior, defender/midfielder.

RUBIO’S QUOTE: “We’re always competitive. It’s really hard to say

[where we’re at right now].

GLENDALE

COACH: Hector Garay, second year.

LEAGUE: Pacific.

LAST SEASON: 8-10-1, 3-7 in league for fifth place. Did not qualify

for playoffs.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Andrew Lai, senior, forward; Nick Varga, senior,

midfielder; Sid Karantonis, senior, midfielder; Alex Karantonis, senior,

midfielder; Percy Ramirez, sophomore, forward.

GARAY’S QUOTE: “This team is better than last year. We’re more

compact. I think we could [advance] to the playoffs.”

VILLAGE CHRISTIAN

COACH: Dean Lagasse, second year.

LEAGUE: Alpha.

LAST SEASON: 4-13, 2-6 in league for fourth place. Did not qualify for

playoffs.

VERDUGO HILLS

COACH: Andres Rey, fourth year.

LEAGUE: Sunset Six.

LAST SEASON: 1-8-5, 0-7-3 in league for sixth place. Did not qualify

for playoffs.