BOYS' SOCCER NOTEBOOK: MARMONTE RACE RESUMES.

Byline: Ross Siler Staff Writer

Back in his first stint as Royal High of Simi Valley's boys' soccer coach, Kevin Corley founded in 1994 what would grow into the school's annual Christmas tournament, a holiday showcase for area teams that served as the final tuneup before league play in January.

But after returning to coach Royal this season, Corley elected to cancel the event after eight years. For Corley, who has two children in elementary school and took a two-year absence as Royal's coach, the commitment associated with the tournament was too consuming.

``I decided if I was going to (coach) again, I was going to cut back a little,'' Corley said. The tournament ``was just something I couldn't do again. As anyone who hosts a tournament will tell you, it takes a lot of preparation. It takes a lot of work.''

Corley said he tried to offer the tournament to other Marmonte League schools, but none wanted to host it. So the coach, with some disappointment, ended up canceling the tournament he created. And as a result, several area teams were left with long layoffs over the holidays.

One was Westlake, whose coach, Bill Propster, tried to enter his team in both the Hart of Newhall and Buena of Ventura tournaments with no success. Both fields were filled early, leaving Propster to give his players more than a week off at Christmas. When the Warriors (3-4) resume league play today, it will be their first game in 19 days.

``It's been kind of interesting to see what it's like not to play at the holidays,'' Propster said. ``We've had a couple of practices where not a lot of guys have shown up because they've been out of town. The good news is at least we didn't get anyone injured.''

Royal, meanwhile, stayed busy by taking third in the Upland tournament. The Highlanders (7-3-1) also played Friday against defending Division I co-champion Quartz Hill. Royal lost 1-0, but Corley was pleased as his team hit the post four times and controlled play despite missing five starters.

Junior forward Patrick Smith leads Royal with five goals, and senior sweeper Ryan Adamson is one of nine starters returning for Corley, who coached the team from 1991 to 2000. Royal will host Newbury Park (4-4-4) today, the first of three Marmonte games this week.

--St. Francis surging: With a second-place finish in the Elite Division of last month's Student Sports Invitational Tournament in Tampa, Fla., St. Francis of La Canada (13-2) has moved into the publication's top 50 national rankings. The Knights lost to 10th-ranked Central Catholic of Melbourne, Fla., 3-0 in the championship.

That success has only carried over as St. Francis went 4-0 in winning the Buena tournament Saturday after returning from Florida. The Knights captured the title 3-0 on penalty kicks against Millikan of Long Beach after a scoreless tie. Goalkeeper Tashi Nakanishi stopped the first three Millikan kicks for the victory.

Nakanishi, the defensive MVP at the Student Sports tournament, has 10 shutouts already this season. And St. Francis has lost only one game locally, a 1-0 decision to Agoura in the Burroughs of Burbank tournament. But coach Glen Appels said his team's focus is strictly local - not on moving into the top 25 nationally.

``Nobody ever survives the Mission League undefeated anyway,'' Appels said. ``The kids don't need the pressure where if they lose one game, they're going to lose their national ranking also.''

St. Francis opens league play Wednesday with a showdown against Crespi of Encino. Each league game has taken on a heightened importance as well, with every Mission team now in the Southern Section's Division II playoff classification.

``All of us could be fighting just to get in the playoffs,'' Appels said. ``And then we could have an opening-round game that's just as tough as any we've played all season.''