He’s Scoring Points as a Sub : Soccer: Mission Viejo graduate Joe-Max Moore would prefer to start, but he’s making the most of his Olympic opportunity.

Joe-Max Moore wants to play. None of this sitting around, waiting for someone to get tired or for the coach to decide it’s time.

He wants to be in that soccer match.

“Sitting on the bench eats away at me a little,” Moore said. “But it’s something I have to deal with. I guess I just have to make the best of my opportunities.”

True to his words, he has.

Moore, a graduate of Mission Viejo High School, has been a super-sub for the U.S. Olympic soccer team. He is a scorer, brought off the bench to inject life in Team USA.

In the past four exhibition matches, Moore has scored two goals and assisted on one. It’s a role he will fill in Barcelona, even if he is a little reluctant about it.

“I’m just so used to being a starter, that it makes things a little difficult,” Moore said. “It will be a little harder, but I’m going to try to make things happen off the bench.”

Moore has been stirring things up since he began playing soccer at 5. His specialty is scoring goals, something he has been quite good at from the youth leagues to UCLA, where he will be a junior in the fall.

“Joe’s an exciting player to watch,” said Mike Lapper, a teammate of Moore’s at UCLA and on the Olympic team. “His shots kill.”

Moore scored 25 goals as a senior at Mission Viejo, leading the Diablos to the Southern Section 3-A championship. He was named the Orange County player of the year.

Last season, Moore was the Bruins’ leading scorer with 18 goals and seven assists. He was named second-team All-American.

He had 11 goals and 10 assists the previous season.

“Joe is an attacking midfielder,” UCLA Coach Sigi Schmid said. “Some midfielders set things up, not Joe. He wants to score goals.”

And, usually, those goals come at opportune times.

In the 3-A title match, Moore scored in overtime to give Mission Viejo a 2-1 victory over Santa Barbara in 1989.

Last season, seven of Moore’s goals were game-winners. As a freshman, he scored the game-winner in overtime against the University of San Diego in the first round of the NCAA playoffs.

The Bruins went on to win the national championship.

“If I had to pick the person I would want in a game-winning situation, it would be Joe,” Schmid said. “There’s an air of confidence about him.”

Schmid saw that again during the World University Games last year.

The United States lost in the quarterfinals on penalty kicks, one of which was a miss by Moore. The next day there was another penalty-kick situation during the match.

“Everyone was kind of looking at each other, not really wanting to take it,” Schmid said. “Joe, the youngest guy on the team, just picked up the ball, set it down and scored on the PK. That’s the type of confidence he has.”

That confidence is usually waiting to get in the match these days.

Olympic Coach Lothar Osiander has used Moore almost exclusively off the bench during the qualifying matches and exhibitions, starting Claudio Renya instead.

“Claudio is not as consistent as Joe,” Osiander said. “But, on Claudio’s good weeks, he’s a better player. I know Joe doesn’t like being on the bench, but you can’t blame him for that. I think he’s adjusting to it well.”

Said Moore: “I really haven’t changed how I approach a game. I wait, and when I get my chance, I try to pick things up.”

Moore scored the game-winning goal against Mexico in the Pan American Games, giving the United States the gold medal.

“Joe comes in 20 minutes into the match and the next thing we knew, we got a goal,” Lapper said.

The next match, Moore tied the score in an exhibition against Miami of the American Professional Soccer League.

Tuesday, Moore scored on a penalty kick with three minutes left to give the U.S. team a 1-0 victory over the Qatar Under-21 Team in Canet, France.

“He makes us a more cohesive team,” Osiander said.

Moore’s desire for playing time hasn’t interfered with the big picture. As a kid, he dreamed of playing in the Olympics, and that has remained the goal.

He began the tryout process nearly two years ago in Pomona and has gone from cut to cut, always anxious about whether he would be invited to the next camp.

“I was really anxious a few times,” Moore said. “But there have been a lot of players come through this team and I’m still here. I’m really excited to be going to the Olympics.”

Be it as a starter or reserve.