THE PREPS : Girls’ Player of the Week : Van Opdorp Gets the Job Done . . . Year-Round

Tammy Van Opdorp didn’t have much time to hoot and holler after Mission Viejo High School won its third consecutive Southern Section 4-A championship at Cerritos Saturday.

Van Opdorp, a senior midfielder, had scarcely five minutes of rest before she and four other Diablo players got in their cars and drove to another soccer tournament--the California Youth Soccer Assn. Presidents Cup at Bakersfield.

“We got there at 11:30 at night,” said Van Opdorp, who plays for the Soccerettes, a CYSA team based in Mission Viejo.

“And our first match was 8:30 the next morning. It was kind of rough.”

Especially, Van Opdorp said, because she and her high school/Soccerette teammates--Julie Foudy, Rae Hubocan, Stacey Hopper and Kerri Kennedy--stayed awake half the night reliving their latest Southern Section championship.

In that match, in which Mission Viejo shut out West Torrance, 1-0, Van Opdorp, The Times’ player of the week, played the full 80 minutes. Her intense play--on offense and defense--continually frustrated West Torrance.

“Usually I take Tammy out for a while to give her a rest,” Diablo Coach Jim Dutton said. “But she was working so hard. . . . I didn’t know if I could chance a substitution.”

Dutton said Van Opdorp’s transition game--her switch from offense to defense and back--was at its best Friday.

“I’ve watched the game film six times,” Dutton said. “Tammy was working incredibly hard. She fired three shots that were just tremendous, and played some great defense.”

The victory extended Mission Viejo’s undefeated streak to 69 matches. The last team to beat the Diablos was Laguna Hills in 1986, when Van Opdorp was a sophomore.

This season, Van Opdorp, a four-year varsity starter, scored 8 goals and made 12 assists. She takes all of Mission Viejo’s corner kicks and did an excellent job replacing Hubocan as sweeper when Hubocan was injured in December.

“She is a class player and a workhorse,” Dutton said. “She’s a good technician too. When I tell her something, you can see a light bulb go off in her head.”

Van Opdorp has played soccer year-round for 11 years, with the last four years being divided between club and high school teams. (Club play begins the day after high school competition ends in March, and ends the day before high school competition begins in November.)

“Tammy’s an unsung hero,” Mission Viejo Soccerettes’ Coach John McIntyre said. “She’s not the spectacular, flashy player, but when the job needs to be done, you call on Tammy Van Opdorp.”

Tammy Van Opdorp

Mission Viejo High

Position: Soccer midfielder.

Height, Class: 5-3, Senior.

Last Week: Helped Mission Viejo shut out West Torrance, 1-0, and win its third consecutive Southern Section 4-A championship.

Season: Scored 8 goals and made 12 assists for Mission Viejo, which finished the season 26-0-2.