Pirates set sail in 2003
Bryce Alderton
Seven soccer players from Newport Harbor High didn’t have to venture
too far to begin their collegiate soccer careers. They just had to
head west on 17th Street, make a right onto Newport Boulevard, then
veer left just slightly onto Fairview Road, where Orange Coast
College sits about a mile north.
Head coach Laird Hayes, along with assistants Kevin and Jason
Smith -- they are brothers -- welcome a coalition of Sailor grads
from a team that finished second in the Sea View League to CIF
Southern Section Division II co-champion Woodbridge and advanced to
the playoffs in the same division. Ryan Hernandez, who will enter his
first season as the boys coach at Newport this winter after the
resignation of Martyn Hansford, played at Coast.
“He sent a lot of the guys our way, which is kind of cool,” Hayes
said. “These guys are good players who had a good year.
“They are hard-working kids who are doing better and better. Guys
are getting well, listening to instruction and doing what is asked of
them.”
Coast has increased its number of workouts leading into its season
opener against visiting Rio Hondo at 4 p.m. Wednesday and, as Hayes
said, the team is always in good hands with the Smith brothers.
“You don’t have two better tacticians than those guys,” Hayes said
of the Smiths. “They get 100% out of those guys.”
Kevin, also an assistant for the OCC women’s team, played
professionally in England and was UC Irvine’s leading scorer at one
point. Jason was a defender on Coast’s 1989 state champion and
coaches at Fountain Valley High.
“He was one of the best defenders we ever had,” Hayes said of
Jason.
The Smiths, along with Hayes, guide a team that went 15-4-4 and
reached the Southern California Regional playoffs before a 1-0 loss
to San Diego Mesa.
Defender Steve Vellanoweth and forward Joel Sotolongo, both
sophomores, started every game for Coast last season and join
defenders Marco Santangelo, a Costa Mesa High product, and Miguel
Ruiz as the four sophomores on a team of 16 freshmen. Ruiz can play a
variety of spots, said Hayes, who enters his 17th season at Coast.
“We lost a lot of our back line and are trying to find a sweeper,”
Hayes said.
Hayes has been impressed with forward Eli Solis, who earned
first-team All-CIF Division IV honors as a senior at Costa Mesa in
2002.
“He has a nose for the goal and we haven’t had any real consistent
goal scorers the last few years,” Hayes said. “Sotolongo has been
looking real good. He strikes the ball well and likes to shoot. He is
a big, strong kid who is hard to knock off balance. Matt Fennel has
looked great in the midfield.
“We have some excellent team speed. [Eric] Nutter is as fast as
lightning and Will Sanchez has good ability. Jose Serpas isn’t the
fastest guy in the world, but is as fundamentally sound as they get
and we have two fine goalkeepers in Mark Spears and Christian Lopez.”
Kevin described the team as aggressive and highly-skilled.
“We’re going to be able to attack and defend with quite a bit of
variation, mixing it up a lot,” Kevin said. “We are going to be more
versatile and more dynamic than last year, able to attack and be more
creative.”
As of Thursday, Hayes said Spears, the Sailors’ goalie last year,
would be the starter. Hayes, however, plans on splitting playing time
between the two netminders.
The goalkeepers can count on individual attention this season with
the addition of Hilario Arriaga as coach. Arriaga attended Estancia
and was a goalkeeper for Coast last season. His brother, Cesar, will
be a senior on Sage Hill School’s boys soccer team this fall and
earned first-team All-Academy League honors last season.
“We haven’t had anyone to train the goalkeepers for the last four
or five years, so this will really help Mark and Christian improve,”
Hayes said.
Keeping players on the field will also be a priority for Coast
this season.
“The main thing is, who can stay healthy,” Hayes said. “Teams that
stay healthy are the ones that have the most success.”
Spears and Serpas, a forward for Newport last year, both earned
first-team All-Sea View League honors last winter.
Nutter, a forward, and Sanchez, a midfielder, are Newport grads,
as are defenders Brandon Lutfy and Justin Newton. Freshman Adam Uhl
also played for Harbor last season and will occupy the midfield for
Coast.
Five other freshmen round out the midfield, including: forward
Eder Ibarra from Jurupa Valley High; defenders Andres Lopez, brother
of Christian; La Quinta product John Gauthier; Sarven Tomaskesis,
from Istanbul, Turkey; along with midfielder Aaron Pang from Lutheran
High in Honolulu.
No matter who is on the field, spacing is paramount to Coast’s
success this season, Hayes said.
“Everyone will have to be responsible for the positions they
play,” Hayes said. “At this level, you have to be able to cross the
ball from one side to the other ... make a simple pass to the next
guy and fire away. The more opportunities you have, the better the
chance of [the ball] going in.”
The balls will be flying beginning Wednesday.
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