So proud of my man!

Daily Pilot article:  BY DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA

Updated: Monday, March 1, 2010 10:21 PM PST

Since George Larsen left his first high school coaching job on top 12 years ago, some of the best soccer programs in Orange County have offered him a job about every year.

But Larsen, who twice coached the Mission Viejo High girls to a CIF Southern Section championship and also won a CIF crown as a player for the Diablos, turned down every offer.

Larsen never saw himself coaching on the high school level again. It didn’t fit with his schedule, his family. Larsen also enjoyed far more success guiding the Newport Beach-based Slammers Futbol Club.

Mater Dei, where Larsen’s mom, Diane, has been a teacher for a quarter of a century, failed to lure him in.

So, why is Larsen at Corona del Mar? Who convinced him to return to the high school ranks?

Larsen’s ties with the Slammers helped. A handful of the boys who play for the Sea Kings once suited up for Larsen on the club level.

Despite the familiarity, Larsen still had no idea if CdM could make history in his first season at the helm. It can today.

The Sea Kings are one win away from reaching the section title game for the first time in the program’s history. Top-seeded CdM (22-1-1) plays host to North Torrance (16-5-5) in the semifinals of the Division IV playoffs at 3 p.m.

“I didn’t take [over] this program because I knew we were going to be good this year,” Larsen said in early in January, before the Sea Kings made waves nationally (now ranked No. 11 by ESPN RISE). “Before I took the job, one of the [players] I talked to was Reed [Williams]. I asked him, ‘Is this high school thing important to you?’ He almost teared up. He said, ‘Yeah, it’s very important to me.’

“That was one of the things that pushed me over the edge. When I saw the sincerity of how important this was, I said, ‘This is something I want to invest in. I could see that these kids were going to work hard for me.’ ”

The Sea Kings have outworked practically everyone on the field. They’ve outscored opponents, 70-11.

The two times CdM didn’t prevail, Williams was out with an injured right hamstring. The UCLA-bound senior striker is more than all right now.

Williams scored his 28th goal of the season in the Sea Kings’ 2-0 quarterfinal victory at Cathedral of Los Angeles on Thursday. Williams and CdM haven’t come this far to settle for anything but a section crown.

North Torrance is trying to qualify for its first section championship game as well.

The Saxons reached the semis for the second straight season by knocking off fourth-seeded Norwalk, 2-1, in the quarterfinals. In order to upset another top seed, the Pioneer League champion can’t afford to fall behind the way it did at home Thursday.

The Sea Kings’ defense is stingy. Since suffering its lone loss of the season on Jan. 15, CdM has allowed two goals during its current 10-game winning streak. One of the goals came in a 4-1 first-round playoff win over Wilson of Hacienda Heights.

As much as players like Williams, Jack McBean and Brian Ford receive a lot of praise for their abilities, guys like Jack Gorab, Greg Allen and goalkeeper Connor Gaal slow down the opposition. The Pacific Coast League champion Sea Kings are primed to move on to the title game, where they may possibly meet a league foe in Laguna Hills.

The Hawks play host to La Mirada in the other semifinal today. Larsen, as he said earlier in the season, isn’t one to overlook any team, even though his Sea Kings are the heavy favorites.

“Those rankings don’t help you win titles,” said Larsen, who in three seasons led Mission Viejo to Division I girls’ titles in 1995-96 and 1997-98, and won a Division 3-A title as a Mission Viejo boys’ player in 1988-89. “They’re nice. They’re flattering. They’re fun for the kids. I’ve been an unranked team and I’ve been a top-ranked team and won it.

“I’m having a blast. It’s not like a first-year coach getting acclimated. It’s just kind of me helping the community like I have been doing with the Slammers all these years.”

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