"On the field, they're obviously three of our best players," says sophomore midfielder Carter Vettese. "As leaders, they're our captains. They keep us up, they keep us focused."
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"Kathy was already a good coach, I became a lot better coach when these three kids came on campus," jokes Flintridge Sacred Heart Co-coach Frank Pace of the fortune bestowed on him and Co-coach Kathy Desmond in 2002.
It would serve as the genesis of unprecedented Tolog success.
For Bustos, she was an All-Mission League first-team selection as a freshman. While a winning tradition was being put in place for the team, Bustos was establishing one for herself as a cavalcade of honors would follow.
As a sophomore she was the league's Defensive Player of the Year before a junior campaign saw her tabbed as an All-CIF selection, the Mission League Co-Player of the Yea r and the News-Press All-Area Player of the Year.
"She's the type player, when you see her, she jumps out at you and still, she's not flashy, she's not boastful," offers Pace about his soft-spoken standout who's headed to Fordham University to play soccer in the fall. "She's been a difference-maker for us since she's walked on campus. Our gameplan begins for us with, 'Who's Bustos gonna mark?' "
Much of the gameplan for Flintridge Sacred Heart also focuses on Luper. In her four seasons at the school, she's been asked to play every position on the field outside of goaltender.
"She's made as many sacrifices for this team than anybody's ever made. She never knows what position she's gonna play," says Pace of Luper, who's notched three goals and six assists this season, but has measured up in more important statistics. "The only thing you measure for effectiveness with her is Ws. That's the only statistic you measure."
That and the fact that Luper has showed up every day to help the Tologs to get those "Ws."
