LOS ALTOS TWINS MAKE SOCCER OPPONENTS SEE DOUBLE

SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

DATE: Wednesday, December 23, 1992 Section: SECTION: Peninsula Extra Edition: Peninsula/Am Page: 3 DAVE PAYNE, Mercury News Staff Writer

Los Altos High will have a definite unfair advantage on its opponents in girls' soccer through the 1995-'96 season.

Identical twins Lorrie and Ronnie Fair are the reasons why.

The fabulous freshmen, Western Regional-level players in the U.S. Olympic Developmental program's under-14 age group, already are making an impact on Coach Nelson Lodge's team this season.

With Lorrie at forward and Ronnie in the midfield, the Eagles tallied a 7-1 record in pre-season play and opened the Santa Clara Valley League with a convincing 7-0 win over visiting Wilcox on Dec. 15. '

'I've been watching these girls play since they were 8 years old in AYSO (American Youth Soccer Organization)," Lodge said. "At last, I've got them at Los Altos."

Lorrie Fair, who scored three goals in four games for the United States Youth Soccer Association's Western Regional under-14 team at a national tournament in Boca Raton, Fla., on Thanksgiving weekend, has found high school soccer to her liking.

She already has 12 goals, including three three-goal games. She is only 10 goals shy of tying the single-season school record of 22, set by Diana Bishop in the mid-1970s and equaled in 1987-'88 by Anneliese Lodge, the coach's daughter. Los Altos has 11 league games remaining, plus one or more matches in the Central Coast Section post-season tournament. '

'The way Lorrie is going, she will shatter the school record," Lodge said. "And Ronnie will have a lot to do with it, since she does an excellent job of getting the ball to her sister. It's amazing the way they read each other on the field."

Ronnie also is among Los Altos' scoring leaders with eight goals. Of the 37 goals netted by the Eagles, the Fairs have 20.

Los Altos senior goalkeeper Shanelle Eng said she had heard of the twins before this season but hadn't seen them play until she practiced with them during the summer.

''They're very good players for freshmen," said Eng, who has three shutouts and a 0.89 goals-against average this season. "They're as good as any senior I've seen play this year."

The only game the Eagles have been held under four goals was in a 1-0 loss to Saratoga and senior goalkeeper Jen Renola in the Mercy Tournament final Dec. 12 at Stanford.

''We dominated that game, but Renola, a member of the under- 19 (Western) regional team, stopped everything we threw at her," Lodge said. "I don't think there is a better (high school) goalkeeper in the state. She definitely can play at the Division I college level."

The twins estimated they were 4 years old when they began kicking around soccer balls. '

'Our dad (Ben Fair) started us playing soccer in AYSO at first, when we were about eight," Ronnie Fair said. "And our brother, Greg, was in competitive soccer and played all four years at Los Altos. He has always been very supportive of us."

Greg is a freshman at the University of California, Berkeley, where he gave up soccer to play the clarinet in the marching band. He still finds time to come home and watch his sisters play, however.

Ben Fair, who coached the Los Gatos junior varsity boys' team in 1990-'91, died of a heart attack in July. He was 56.

''The kids were Ben's life," said May Fair, his widow. "He coached all three of them, and the kids were all he talked about the last year of his life.

'I've tried to keep everybody going as much as possible after Ben's death. Life has to go on. I've been very busy driving the girls to soccer games."

The twins say they enjoy playing high school soccer.

''Ronnie and I have played a lot against older players, so that hasn't been a problem for us (in high school games)," Lorrie said. "I was expecting to play better teams.

''I'm sure we would have beaten Saratoga had it not been for Renola. She's awfully good. I saw her play for the under-19 regional team in Boca Raton, and I rode on the same plane with her. But I didn't realize she played for Saratoga until I saw her against Homestead at the (Mercy) tournament."

The Fair sisters, who also plan to run track for Los Altos next spring, have similar goals in soccer. They want to play for one of the age-group national teams, and they want to earn college soccer scholarships.

Their immediate goal, however, is to win a Santa Clara Valley Athletic League title this season while gathering confidence and momentum heading into the CCS playoffs.

Lorrie Fair said, "We have a pretty good team, and I think we can win our league."

Their chief rivals appear to be Palo Alto and Gunn, with a young Mountain View team an outside threat.

But the Eagles, who Lodge said are seeking their sixth straight SCVAL title, appear to be the team to beat.