VIEW CLOUDY AT THE TOP PICKING AREA'S TOP PROGRAM NO EASY TASK.

Byline: Erik Boal Staff Writer

Trying to establish which girls' soccer team is best in the region in the first week of December is as difficult as trying to pick the winner of the NCAA men's basketball tournament at the same time.

Unlike in past seasons, when Harvard-Westlake of Studio City was nationally ranked or Westlake was riding high following a Southern Section Div. II championship, the dominant program this year isn't clear.

Still, Westlake remains a force to be reckoned with, although coach Frank Marino says the depth in this year's Marmonte League might be the best he's ever seen, with Agoura, Newbury Park and Thousand Oaks all prepared to make a run at the league title.

Harvard-Westlake also has plenty of challengers in the Mission League, with Chaminade of West Hills, Flintridge Sacred Heart of La Canada and Louisville of Woodland Hills all trying to unseat the defending champion Wolverines.

Other perennial powers such as Canyon of Canyon Country, Crescenta Valley of La Crescenta, four-time City Section champion El Camino Real of Woodland Hills, two-time Div. V co-champion Oaks Christian of Westlake Village, Quartz Hill and Valencia also figure to enjoy deep runs in the postseason.

And Flintridge Prep of La Canada, Highland of Palmdale, Oak Park, Quartz Hill and Saugus - if they remain healthy - should all be dangerous when the playoffs arrive in February.

For now, the honor, or curse, of being the region's top-ranked team goes to Westlake, although the Warriors will find out how good they are when they play at No. 2 Harvard-Westlake on Friday.

Even after losing All-Southern Section honorees Ashley Jones and Nicole Remmenga to graduation, Marino says his team is deeper than last season's group that lost in the quarterfinals to Buena of Ventura.

``I think we've got a good team,'' said Marino, who returns All-Div. II honorees in juniors Ericka Baer and Rebekah Olin, along with seniors Michelle Kanama and Lauren Shanklin, who missed last season with a knee injury.

``We obviously don't have players the caliber of Ashley or Nicole, but we're 13 or 14 deep and we have a couple of transfers that are really helping.''

Midfielder Siena Kluck and goalkeeper Rachel Collins, formerly of Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley, respectively, have added even more weapons to an already dangerous team that also features one of the region's best freshmen in Kirsten DiPippo.

Harvard-Westlake coach Stacy Schwartz also will have to rely on a couple of freshmen after the Wolverines graduated one of their best classes in recent years. Mary Amato and Alison Griffin will join senior captains Simona Capisani, Katie Chamberlin and Sheera Goren, as well as returning standouts Bridget Ballard and Ali Riley, in helping Harvard-Westlake hold off Chaminade, Flintridge Sacred Heart and Louisville.

``I think it's too early to say who's the best because everything changes in league,'' Schwartz said. ``I have a lot of confidence in our team, but nothing has really come that easily the past four years.''

El Camino Real has made its run of dominance in the City Section look easy, although coach Shanna Sarris will have to do it without reigning Daily News All-Area Player of the Year Kandice McLaughlin, who is at Michigan.

Still, El Camino Real returns All-City selections in Katie Oakes and Nicole Connolly, which should keep them ahead of Chatsworth, Granada Hills and San Pedro come playoff time.

Oaks Christian has enjoyed plenty of playoff success the past two seasons, sharing the Div. V titles with Oak Park and Notre Dame Academy of Los Angeles. Despite graduating Div. V Offensive Player of the Year Alysha Hoven and losing Jessica Needham to a season-ending ACL injury, the Lions appear to be one of the favorites to again be playing in March, led by senior midfielder Caitlyn MacKechnie, who has committed to UCLA.

``If we can gel as a team, there is a possibility we can be better than we were last year,'' said coach Jan Hethcock, who also features Nicole Sweetman, Kelsea Smith, Ali Davis and Rachel Van Gent. ``I don't know if we can repeat, but we'll try our best.''

Oak Park, led by Samantha Stoll, Tatiana Camacho and Whitney Steininger, could again be a factor in the race for the Div. V title.

Canyon, under new coach Steve Ladanyi, will rely on senior forward Nini Loucks to win a fourth consecutive Foothill League title, with Valencia and Saugus looking to upset the balance of power.

Flintridge Sacred Heart, led by New Mexico-bound forward Hannah Hand and junior defender Lauren Bustos, could pose the biggest challenge to Harvard-Westlake in the Mission League. Chaminade, led by UC Irvine-bound Alex Fries, and Louisville, with Northwestern-bound Jenny Dunn, make the league extremely competitive.

Although Thousand Oaks won't have the services of U.S. Under-19 women's national team goalkeeper Kelsey Davis, the Lancers still have senior Nicole Ruggeiri in goal, along with field players Britney Arauz, Katie Coulas and Natasha Belak-Berger. And Agoura, which features senior sweeper Kimi Snyder and junior midfielder Alicia Herczeg, could be the sleeper in the league after a third-place finish last season.

Four players who expect to make themselves household names by year's end are Crescenta Valley's Rachael Rigamat (committed to San Diego), Flintridge Prep's Coco Kleinert (committed to UCLA), and Highland's Sahar Haghdan (close to signing with Long Beach State) and Janet Mendez (a member of the Mexican women's national team).

CAPTION(S):

photo, 4 boxes

Photo:

Ericka Baer, from top, Michelle Kanama and Lauren Shanklin return for Westlake, which earns the top spot in the Daily News preseason rankings. Westlake gets an early test against No. 2 Harvard-Westlake.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer

Box:

(1) GIRLS: Daily News TOP 10

(2) TOP FIVE PLAYERS

(3) NEW FACES

(4) BIG GAMES