Highland Is High on Haghdan

Sophomore forward Sahar Haghdan, who doesn’t do anything at half-speed, has been quick to make her mark on the Palmdale Highland girls’ soccer team’s record book.

Haghdan, who scored four goals and had an assist in the Bulldogs’ 8-0 rout of Littlerock in a Golden League game Thursday, broke the school record for goals in a season with the dominating performance.

With two games to play in the regular season, Haghdan has 23 goals.

“She’s so fast,” Highland Coach Lemuel Galvao said. “As she learns to play and change speeds better, the better she gets.”

Haghdan, who had 10 goals last year, had her record-tying 19th goal in a 3-0 victory over Palmdale on Tuesday. Haghdan shared the mark with Meghan Stewart and Lindsay Giampetro, who each scored 19 during the 1995-96 season.

That was the season Highland won its only Golden League title.

Despite having no seniors, this year’s team is looking for at least a share of another one this week.

Currently in second place in the league after a 1-0 loss to first-place Quartz Hill (9-6-2, 8-0 in the league) two weeks ago, Highland (12-6-3, 7-1-0) plays host to Lancaster on Tuesday and plays at Quartz Hill on Thursday.

Both games are scheduled for 6 p.m. Quartz Hill, which has won the title the last five years, faces Palmdale on Tuesday.

“This is huge. This is the week,” said Galvao, who is in the fourth season of his second stint as the Bulldogs’ coach. “It’s always come down to Quartz Hill and us.”

Despite Haghdan’s record showing, she is not the only player the Bulldogs have been able to rely on this season.

Sophomore center midfielder Diana Mendez and junior forward Kari Noonan, the team’s second-leading scorer with six goals and 12 assists, have combined to fill a void left when Anika Perkins suffered a season-ending knee injury in December.

Junior Nicole Jarbo, a backup goalkeeper last season, took over the starting job this season and has six shutouts.

It’s likely that whoever manages to score will win today’s nonleague girls’ soccer game between Arcadia and Pasadena Poly.

Arcadia (13-0-6, 7-0-0), ranked No. 1 in the Southern Section Division II coaches’ poll, and Pasadena Poly (14-0-0, 7-0-0), No. 1 in Division IV, will play at 3:15 p.m. at the Arcadia Civic Center in a game that figures to be a defensive battle.

The Apaches, in first place in the Pacific League, have given up three goals and have 15 shutouts. They are led offensively by forward Brittany Klein, who has 11 goals and 15 assists.

The Panthers, the Prep League leaders, also have surrendered three goals this season. They rely on Liza Walper and Katelyn Kuwata on offense.

-- Lauren Peterson

Nineteen Southland players, including Ventura St. Bonaventure’s Whitney Lewis, The Times’ player of the year, have been selected Red Zone High School Football players of the year for 2002.

Coaches nominated players for the national competition, sponsored by Old Spice, that recognizes athletic ability, leadership skills and personal integrity, as well as accomplishment within the opponent’s 20-yard line, or “the red zone.”

Besides Lewis, the others selected were Bobby Andrade (Bell Gardens), Nolan Taylor (Ridgecrest Burroughs), Eric Schlegel (San Juan Capistrano Capistrano Valley Christian), Brandon Myles (Carson), Dennis Webber (Palos Verdes Chadwick), Danny Mashek (Temecula Chaparral), Christian Limon (Thermal Coachella Valley), Jeff Simmons (Wildomar Elsinore), Matt Downs (Indio), Preston Clover (Laguna Hills), Jason Leggett (Lakewood), Hernan Sebastiani (North Hollywood), Bashar Samman (Huntington Beach Ocean View), Drew Robinson (Ontario Christian), Leon Jackson (Long Beach Poly), Bobby Meza (Chino Hills Ayala), Efrain Medina (South El Monte) and James Cordrey (Hemet West Valley).

-- Bob Rohwer