They’re the Star-News’ No. 1 team as selected by our very own Keith Lair (who also ranks girls basketball, btw). Didn’t know there was animosity, if you will, between FSHA and the rest of the girls soccer world. Shall we call it a cat fight? Na, it’s not that bad. But lets just say they’re not quite ready to compliment each other’s, uh, uniforms, let alone their style of play or success.

Here’s a sample of the “love ’em or hate ’em” comments from a previous thread:

Anonymous: … glendora 1-0 and maranatha 3-2. Monrovia gets absolutely no credit and they actually want to compete instead of playing safe and easy games just to keep their record. Stats don’t mean anything. Sacred Heart’s overrated!!

Angel Bec: … It’s official – FSHA is the Yankees of high school soccer. They are the team everyone loves to hate.

My Left Foot: … Fsha 1-Harvard Westlake 0 .. Harvard Westlake ranked # 1 by Daily News # 1 by CIF D-2 .. FSHA still won’t win league, but they are the best team in THIS area.

Lisa: I can understand why some of you feel that Sacred Heart is overrated however, since the start of the season FHSA has played 5 of the teams ranked in this poll. FSHA recorded 3 shut-outs and prevailed in one game via shoot-out. The only recorded tie was against Monrovia. Furthermore, Monrovia lost to Maranantha… Sacred Heart shut them out 2-0… You do the math. It is hard to compare 2 schools when they don’t play in the same division or the same league.

high school fan: FSHMA’s impressive win over Harvard-Westlake should not be taken lightly either.

Another Voice: Yankees of girls soccer, I like that Angel Bec. I love to hate them too.

soccernut: The previous post is correct, FSHA are the Yankees with respect to buying a team. As many are aware (see recent LA Times article) Frank Pace recruits many players (eg 7 freshman recruits) to play soccer for money (eg paid tuition scholarships) for the school. I thought this only happened at the next level (college and pros). I guess GREED is good for fair competition even at the high school level! No sour grapes here, they still have never won a CIF crown.

R2 Soccer: soocernut…not only has FSHA never won a CIF title it has never won a playoff game under Frank Pace.

from the sidelines: I can understand why so many people love to hate FSHA. Frank Pace no doubt gets on everyone’s nerves. He talks the talk, does use his money and connections to his advantages, and probably is extremely underqualified to actually coach top club players year in and year out… But regardless of him, I don’t think the girls should suffer such scrutiny because of the bad rep their coach has brought upon their program. They are talented athletes who are probably working really hard to try and battle through a tough Mission league. They just beat two top notch teams. I think they deserve a lot more credit than they are being given. Say what you want about their annoying coach, but don’t discredit the actual girls who are working hard for their success.

Another Voice: I saw the LA Times article. I didn’t read anything in it about FSHA recruiting players. As for paying players, I didn’t read anything about that in the LA Times story either. FSHA is run by nuns not George Steinbrenner. The coach actually seemed like a good guy. I’m thinking you have been at happy hour too long on this fine friday night. Did he cut your kid or something? Don’t get me wrong. I don’t much care for FSHA but they are pretty good. Still I KNOW they won’t win their league. They will be lucky to finish .500. Fair is fair and soccer nut is unfair. Maybe he or she should change his or her name to just plain nuts.

The article the folks above are referring to is from a mentor, a friend and from my favorite sports columnist, T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times. (I got to talking to T.J. at the Rose Bowl game. He said in seven years I can have his job. I’m holding him to that offer)

Anyway, with all this fuss I had to take some time and catch up with Frank Pace. We met Tuesday morning for a cup of coffee at Starbucks over on Lake and Green Street, just a block away from my office. We spent two hours talking about sports and of course his beloved Tologs.

I told him about the love-hate relationship people have over Flintridge Sacred Heart. He gave me his coaching philosophy and what he considers a successful season.

Some bloggers mentioned that he’s never won a playoff game. But look at the competition Flintridge has faced. As Pace put it, the Tologs essentially are fighting year in and year out for first place in a four-team league given that Chaminade and Harvard-Westlake will almost always wrestle for first place.

But Flintridge beat Chaminade and Harvard-Westlake and those wins shouldn’t be taken lightly. Some perspective? Both Chaminade and Harvard-Westlake were missing key players. The victories were nice but at full strength things could be much different.

Pace said he was surprised to see FSHA as the No. 1 team in the CIF-SS Division II poll. He said he didn’t vote FSHA in the top 10. He actually considered it but instead gave the nod to Notre Dame Academy, which the Tologs beat two days ago, 2-0.

So what does Pace consider a successful season?

“If we finish in the top three that’s a good season,” he said. Can you blame them? Again, look at the competition they have within the Mission League. It’s like playing in the playoffs come league.

Pace talked about the rich tradition at FSHA. He’s been coaching there 11 years with the help of co-head coach Cathy Desmont.

Initially, I thought he was referring to the winning tradition. But as Pace acknowledged, he has not won a league championship, a CIF playoff game and no less a CIF championship.

So what tradition could he be talking about?

“Our job isn’t just X’s and O’s,” Pace said. “We have an obligation to mentor them and be their coach in all aspects; send them to college to continue their education. If we can send them to college we’ve done our job.”

Santa Clara, New Mexico and Stanford are among the many schools Pace has contacts with.

I asked Pace if he ever felt he had a team that would be special. His response?

“2011,” he said. That’s when the eight freshman girls will be seniors. Currently, there are seven seniors, two juniors, one sophomore and seven freshman.

So when you talk about FSHA and Frank Pace it’s not all about wins and losses. It’s about making a friend, coaching a friend and getting the most out of them. Rest assure, Pace sleeps very comfortable at night.

“I’m the luckiest guy in the world.”