Chaminade Finds Its Plate Full of a Good Thing

WEST HILLS — Like the maitre d’ at a highly successful restaurant, Chaminade High girls’ soccer coach Mike Evans has too few openings for too many people.

Nine months after the Eagles claimed the Southern Section Division III title, Evans has a program so thoroughly overstocked that his bench will bulge with players who could be stars elsewhere.

Chaminade, regarded as the area’s best team, lost one starter to graduation and another to a transfer. But the Eagles gained two of the area’s best freshmen and a standout transfer and run about 17 players deep.

“Having so many quality players is going to make for a tough season in some ways but it’s great to have to make hard decisions [on who plays],” Evans said. “The girls know; the fear of being a starter last year but not this year is there for them.”

The ones with the most jitters may be Chaminade’s opponents. The Eagles were 23-3-3 last season, their three losses each by a goal. Eight seniors and the top seven scorers return, including forward Kerrie Clavadetscher, who had a team-high 19 goals.

“We’re going to lock the gates and say the game’s off,” said Oak Park Coach Ted Eggleston, whose team hosts Chaminade on Dec. 18. “We play Notre Dame and Westlake and we’re going to the Hart and Claremont tournaments, but the team I’m most worried about is Chaminade.

“We’ll play basic soccer to the best of our abilities and hope we don’t get demolished.”

In the face of such plaudits and significant pressure to repeat as section champions, Eagle senior goalkeeper Kim Nelli said the team must keep its cleats on the ground.

“The biggest challenge is to not be cocky,” Nelli said. “Last season and our talent should be something we use as a motivation, not something we rub in other people’s faces.”

At forward, Clavadetscher will team with Kim Taylor, a club standout with a rocket shot and the area’s best freshman player. Senior Michelle French, the program’s career scoring leader, and sophomore Liz Buhn, last year’s second-leading scorer, will begin many games on the bench.

In the midfield, senior Lia Cummins, an all-section player who has committed to Florida, works well with junior Amy Watts, also an all-section pick. Junior Jennifer Valentine, is one of the area’s most underrated outside players. And Carlie Stokes, a senior transfer from Santa Maria Righetti, was one of the first to claim a starting spot and is already a team leader.

The defense is backed by Nelli, who posted 18 shutouts and allowed 0.6 goals per game last season. Senior sweeper Erin Kelley was the division’s 1997 player of the year.

Seven of the Eagles are on the same club team, and while players at that level often regard the high school season as a vacation, Clavadetscher said Chaminade team members have been early to workouts and serious once they begin.

“[Evans] is more stressed out than we are by having so many good players,” Clavadetscher said. “He doesn’t know who to put where.”

One team Chaminade desperately hopes to take apart this season is Mission League rival Harvard-Westlake. The teams shared last year’s title and have each earned outright crowns in the past three seasons but the Eagles’ 23-6-1 league mark in that span includes six losses and a tie against the Wolverines.

Though he relishes the streak, Harvard-Westlake Coach Ned Smith said he can sympathize with Evans’ playing-time plight.

“I really feel for Mike,” said Smith, whose team advanced to the Division III semifinals with a roster of 17 potential starters. “Substituting two or three players in is one thing, but five or six takes some getting used to.”

Evans has rarely substituted during games in the past and is sticking to that philosophy for now.

“The 11 best players will play,” he said. “Hopefully the competition within the team will bring the best players forward.”