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.