IMPORT OF SOME IMPORT; WESTLAKE'S DALY HAS BEEN GIFT FROM MASSACHUSETTS.

Byline: Jim Inghram Daily News Staff Writer

It all started 10 years ago, this scoring binge that Westlake High's Meghan Daly has been on. The circumstances then were much different than today, but in some important aspects it's the same. Daly was 7 and living in Plymouth, Mass.; now she's 17 and resides in Thousand Oaks.

The one constant has been her ability to put a soccer ball into the back of the net.

``I started playing when I was 7,'' Daly said. ``My first game I scored five goals. I don't why; I guess I just had a knack for it.''

Following that first game in the Plymouth-area recreation leagues (similar to AYSO), Daly was on the move. She was on teams with older girls, on teams with boys and girls, anywhere to give her competition.

``She told me that story before,'' Westlake teammate Cori Frost said. ``I think it's amazing that she was so much better than everyone else.''

Her Massachusetts success didn't end in youth leagues. At Duxbury High School, Daly led the team to the state championships as a freshman. She scored 15 goals that season, including both in a 2-1 championship-game victory over Bartlett.

But soon her life in the small New England town, ``where all my relatives live and you can't go anywhere without seeing someone you know,'' Daly said, was about to change - dramatically.

The summer before her sophomore year the family moved to California.

``My dad was transferred and we moved here,'' Daly said. ``I hated it. I didn't like it at all. Back there soccer is in the fall so I had to wait until November to start playing. I wasn't playing at school. I wasn't on a club team. The first couple of months were kind of tough.''

Then soccer season rolled around and Daly got into the flow of school life at Westlake. Her teammates were quickly impressed and the rest is Warriors history. She set the school record for goals in a season as a junior with 21. She broke it again this year. So far she has 25, with at least one more game to play when Westlake hosts Ventura in the first round of the Division II playoffs Saturday.

For all the damage she has inflicted on Marmonte League coaches, they have only good things to say about her.

``Meghan is a great player,'' Simi Valley coach Mark Johnson said. ``She is the finest scorer in this league since (former Simi Valley standout) Monica Gerardo (now at Notre Dame). She is almost in the same category as her. She has the ability to score anywhere. Anytime she touches the ball she is a threat to score. You will not find a better finisher in this area. I think she will be an impact player at the (collegiate) Division I level. She's a class act and I'm really glad she's a senior so we don't have to play her anymore.''

Teammates are equally glowing: ``She's a big motivator for the team,'' Frost said. ``She gets everyone going and when she does well the rest of us get fired up.''

As one of the leaders of a young squad, Daly feels its important to get the other players going.

``As a senior it's something that you need to do for the younger players,'' she said.

Another duty of being a senior is making a decision on your future. Daly made up her mind Saturday.

``I signed with the University of San Francisco,'' Daly said. She also considered Boston College, Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine and Pacific. ``I considered going back east a lot,'' she said. ``It was everything I wanted. The city is awesome, it's a small school, they have a good soccer team and they have the major I want: exercise and sports science.''

Daly hopes to have at least a few more high school games, but following graduation in June - the goal show will be on the move once again.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

PHOTO (1) Meghan Daly of Westlake, who grew up playing in Massachusetts, has decided to take her talent for scoring goals to USF.

(2) ``Meghan is a great player. She has the ability to score anywhere. Anytime she touches the ball she is a threat to score.''

- Simi Valley coach Mark Johnson

on Westlake opponent Mehgan Daly

Tom Mendoza/Daily News