1991-92 ALL-COUNTY TEAMS : GIRLS’ SOCCER : One Switch Enough for Donohue

SANTA ANA — Before the soccer season, Kim Donohue turned down a chance to be one of the boys.

Mater Dei boys’ soccer Coach Martin Stringer asked Donohue, who was the Southern Section Division 4-A defensive player of the year as a junior, to become a defender on the boys’ team.

Donohue’s first reaction: Is this guy serious?

He said he was, and Donohue considered the proposal before deciding to return to the girls’ team.

“I know she could play with guys if she wanted to, and dominate,” said Becki Schelhorse, who coaches the Mater Dei girls’ team. “She’d at least hold her own. She does all the smart things that the boys do.

“She has no fear.”

Well, maybe a just a bit.

“I wonder how it would be out there playing with the guys,” Donohue said. “It would be fun and exciting until I got nailed, until someone hit me really hard. But it would be fun to try it.”

Not to say Donohue didn’t have fun this season. Off the field, she says, the Monarchs were closer than ever, meeting for team breakfasts on days of matches or just hanging out.

On the field, they usually were just as together, although they faltered in the Angelus League, finishing second--out of first place for the first time since 1987.

But the Monarchs regrouped in time to sweep through the playoffs, defeating top-seeded Simi Valley and No. 2 El Toro, and winning the Southern Section 4-A title.

The championship was the Monarchs’ second in three seasons--they won the 3-A title when Donohue was a sophomore.

This time, Donohue, The Times Orange County player of the year, was the team’s leader. After spending her first two seasons on varsity as a defender, Donohue moved to offense, becoming a midfielder. She had nine goals--she was the Monarchs’ third-leading scorer--and seven assists, but statistics don’t begin to measure her contributions to the team.

Playing the midfield allowed Donohue to play offense and defense, and that meant trouble for Mater Dei opponents. Despite being only 5 feet 4, Donohue has the jumping ability to control most balls in the air. Because of her speed, strength and stamina, she is able to dominate most one-on-one situations.

But in the 4-A title match against two-time defending champion El Toro, Donohue was at a disadvantage. She had sprained her knee in the Monarchs’ 1-0 semifinal victory over Simi Valley three days earlier and hadn’t been able to practice or run.

It was a moot point whether Donohue, who has accepted a scholarship to play at St. Mary’s this fall, would play.

“She was not going to let herself be kept out of it,” Schelhorse said. “There was never any doubt in her mind that she was going to play.”

Donohue needed that kind of determination to keep going despite the pain.

“I tried not to think about it,” she said. “I tried to concentrate on the game and say, ‘It doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t hurt.’

“It was worth it, though. It was worth every bit of the pain.”

Donohue was slowed by the injury--”What she did, she did well but she wasn’t doing everything like she usually does,” Schelhorse said--but she still managed to make a key pass that set up the only goal of the match, which junior forward Katie Ward scored early in the second half.

All-County Girls’ Soccer

FIRST TEAM

Player School Yr. Position Tina Thompson Canyon Jr. Goalkeeper Kirsten Keyler Mater Dei Sr. Defense Molly Schulman El Modena Sr. Defense Ginger Wilshin Dana Hills Sr. Defense Shannon deAvila El Toro Sr. Midfield Kim Donohue Mater Dei Sr. Midfield Sherri Kaminski El Toro Jr. Midfield Kim Campbell Canyon Jr. Forward Jill Florey Mission Viejo Sr. Forward Denise Kenyon El Toro Jr. Forward Katie Ward Mater Dei Jr. Forward

Player Comment Tina Thompson Had 15 shutouts. Kirsten Keyler 4-A defensive player of year. Molly Schulman Shut down high scorers. Ginger Wilshin Helped team to 4-A semifinals. Shannon deAvila Had 13 goals, 20 assists. Kim Donohue Orange County player of year. Sherri Kaminski Helped team to 4-A title match. Kim Campbell Led county with 48 goals. Jill Florey 4-A offensive player of year. Denise Kenyon Had 19 goals, 15 assists. Katie Ward Had 23 goals.

SECOND TEAM

Player School Yr. Position Allegra Garcia El Toro Sr. Goalkeeper Mary Folino Valencia Sr. Defense Jennifer Lachman Edison Sr. Defense Christy Lunceford Trabuco Hills Sr. Defense Claudia Ruggiero Estancia Jr. Defense Nikki Charette Mission Viejo Sr. Midfield Megan Murray Esperanza Jr. Midfield Heidi Gugler Sunny Hills Sr. Forward Monika Larsson Capistrano Valley Sr. Forward Danielle Straub Estancia Sr. Forward Christine Tyler Edison So. Forward

Player Comment Allegra Garcia Allowed no goals in league. Mary Folino Orange League MVP. Jennifer Lachman Sunset League defender of year. Christy Lunceford Pacific Coast League defender of year. Claudia Ruggiero Intuitive sweeper. Nikki Charette Helped team to league title. Megan Murray Strong playmaker. Heidi Gugler Freeway League MVP. Monika Larsson Had 24 goals. Danielle Straub Had 14 goals, 10 assists. Christine Tyler Sunset League offensive MVP.

Honorable mention: Trisha Abe (Mater Dei), Ellie Acalin (Mater Dei), Helen Baron (Rosary), Lisa Boatman (Corona del Mar), Stephanie Boes (Dana Hills), Jennifer Bryant (Esperanza), Staci Bumstead (Esperanza), Courtney Chambers (Western), Monica Chavez (Mater Dei), Jenny Clabaugh (El Toro), Marcy Crouch (Marina), Tammi Daman (Trabuco Hills), Debbie Demarchi (Mission Viejo), Talia Emery (Woodbridge), Karen Ferrier (Brea-Olinda), April Garcia (Anaheim), Brenda Gravell (Western), Dina Gravell (Western), Kristina Grigaitis (Estancia), Kelly Hagan (Villa Park), Brenda Hinrichs (El Modena), Stefanie Hughes (Corona del Mar), Traci Jensen (El Toro), Julie Kanasi (Los Alamitos), Anna Klein (Loara), Julie Lewczyk (Troy), Lindsay Light (Capistrano Valley), Lisa Luna (Pacifica), Michelle Lytle (Valencia), Kari Maeda (Foothill), Sara Mallett (La Habra), Amy Moreno (El Modena), Rhonda Partida (Sunny Hills), Amy Peterson (Marina), Shannon Pickett (Trabuco Hills), Gina Pitale (Dana Hills), Adrianne Poan (Kennedy), Ami Rae (El Toro), Kristina Riedmann (Orange Lutheran), Meghan Reppe (Villa Park), Lynne Thiel (Edison), Stacy Thurber (Sunny Hills), Lori Van Herk (Kennedy), Lauren Weaver (Estancia).