ST. FRANCIS
* COACH: Glen Appels, 16th year.
* LEAGUE: Mission.
* LAST SEASON: 24-6-1, 10-1-1 in league for first place. Lost to
Newport Beach Corona, 3-2, in quarterfinals of Division II playoffs.
* ATHLETES TO WATCH: Jeff Buddenbohn, senior, forward; Nick
Goldreich, sophomore, goalkeeper; Chris Hertz, senior, forward; Ari
Hughes, junior, fullback; Jared Izumi, junior, midfielder; Andres
Ramirez, senior, goalkeeper; Clark Sanchez-Figueras, senior,
midfielder; Bryan Santos, junior, midfielder/forward.
* APPLES' QUOTE: "Some years that we've done well, we didn't have
a headline guy. We feel comfortable with who we have."
LA CANADA
* COACH: Don Sheppard, second year.
* LEAGUE: Rio Hondo.
* LAST SEASON: 12-2-6, 7-0-3 in league to tie for first place with
Temple City. Lost to Baldwin Park, 5-4, in penalty kicks after teams
played to 0-0 tie in regulation in first round of Division IV
playoffs.
* ATHLETES TO WATCH: Hakop Avesyan, junior, midfielder; Daniel
Barber, senior, Evan El-Saden, junior, forward; Ben Frandsen, senior,
midfielder; Cameron Kiersch, senior, midfielder; Josh Rhee, senior,
midfielder; Nick Sparks, senior, midfielder.
* SHEPPARD'S QUOTE: "My first year coaching [at La Canada], I had
to learn about the players. Now, it's so different with the attitude
and system we'll play."
FLINTRIDGE PREP
* COACH: Steve Oderkirk, fifth year.
* LEAGUE: Prep.
* LAST SEASON: 8-5-4, 2-2-2 in league for third place. Did not
qualify for the playoffs.
* ATHLETES TO WATCH: Alex Kipling, junior, forward; Mike Krupczak,
junior, forward; Stephen Lindgren, senior, midfielder; Justin Mowry,
junior, midfielder; Bryan Russell, sophomore, goalkeeper; Bas
Vermuel-Taback, senior, midfielder.
* ODERKIRK'S QUOTE: "We will be fairly strong, but it might take
us several matches for that to happen."
GLENDALE
* COACHES: Edgar Manvelyan, third year; Loi Phan, first year.
* LEAGUE: Pacific.
* LAST SEASON: 12-3-6, 5-2-3 in league for fourth place. Did not
qualify for the playoffs.
* ATHLETES TO WATCH: Victor Acquino, sophomore, fullback; Abraham
Andreasyan, junior, goalkeeper; Taron Avagyan, senior, midfielder;
Carlos Guzman, senior, sweeper; James Varga, junior, stopper.
* MANVELYAN'S QUOTE: "Working with Loi [Phan] will be good because
he understands that I've learned a lot."
CRESCENTA VALLEY
* COACH: Alex Ludwig, third year.
* LEAGUE: Pacific.
* LAST SEASON: 9-11-3, 2-7-1 in league for fifth place. Did not
qualify for the playoffs.
* ATHLETES TO WATCH: Rigoberto Cardenas, junior,
midfielder/forward; Michael Farah, senior, midfielder; Stuart Lange,
senior, stopper; Kyle Roach, senior, goalkeeper; Adam Recio, senior,
goalkeeper; Nick Reid, senior, sweeper; Yahtza Velasquez, junior,
midfielder.
* LUDWIG'S QUOTE: "We have more team chemistry."
HOOVER
* COACH: Mark Rubio, 15th year.
* LEAGUE: Pacific.
* LAST SEASON: 2-14-2, 0-9-1 in league for sixth place. Did not
qualify for the playoffs.
* ATHLETES TO WATCH: Melvin Eyvazi, junior, midfielder/forward;
Jaime Gomez, junior, midfielder; James Hernandez, sophomore, forward;
Juan Mundo, senior, sweeper; David Rojas, sophomore,
midfielder/forward; Alvin Villacorta, senior, fullback.
* RUBIO'S QUOTE: "We figure to be more well rounded."
