BOYS' SOCCER NOTEBOOK: CANYON, HART TO DECIDE ON FIELD WHO'S IN FIRST.

Byline: Ross Siler Staff Writer

Canyon boys' soccer coach Pete Getz has tried to stress that today's game against Hart is just like every other the Cowboys have had over the past two months. But with a crowd of several hundred expected to be on hand and first place in the Foothill League on the line, Getz also knows better.

``There's definitely a lot riding on this game,'' Getz said, ``but that doesn't seem to be an overriding thing for us. We're trying not to psych ourselves out.''

Canyon (10-1-1, 3-0-1) will be in an unexpected place when it hosts today's game: alone in the league's top spot. That came courtesy of Saugus' 3-2 last-second upset victory over Hart on Tuesday, the second loss this season for the Indians.

The Cowboys, meanwhile, are off to their best start in Getz's four seasons and haven't lost since November. Canyon defeated Valencia 2-1 on Tuesday behind goals by Mike Clegg and Trevor Davidson, and it is looking to avenge a pair of losses to Hart last year.

Even in the victory over Valencia, today's game against Hart was on the minds of the Canyon players and parents. One parent attended the Saugus-Hart game and called Getz immediately afterward with the score. But the coach said the impact of the news was minimal.

``It didn't get them as fired up as I would have expected,'' Getz said. ``I even had one kid say, `It doesn't mean anything. We have to win this game first.' I was pretty happy about that.''

Canyon will be missing Clegg today. The sophomore striker will be attending a regional Olympic Development tournament in Las Vegas. But the Cowboys will have senior defender Brandon Migdol and senior goalkeeper Bryan Louzil, whose recent play has been superlative.

Meanwhile, Hart (11-2-5, 3-1) will test Canyon's stingy defense. Hart is led by senior Devin Del Do, the Indians' top goal scorer, and midfielder Kevin Ciccone, the son of Hart coach Robert Ciccone. But Getz is hopeful his team will be able to continue its run.

``I've told the kids our job is to win all of our games and let the other things take care of themselves,'' Getz said. ``We've always had a little history of the Foothill League helping out Canyon soccer.''

--McAbee's miracle: The referee was looking at his watch and Saugus coach Nate Wright was ready to walk of the field with a 2-2 tie against first-place Hart on Tuesday. But that was before Saugus defender Brenden McAbee took off on an 80-yard run and beat three defenders on his way to scoring the game-winning goal with seconds left.

``Everybody was yelling and screaming on our sideline - they're all still talking about it,'' Wright said. ``We all knew time was running out. When (McAbee) got the ball, I was looking at it like, `Well, how far's he going to get?' ''

McAbee ended up going the length of the field, and his third goal of the season gave Saugus the victory and pushed the Centurions (3-5-6, 1-0-3) into third place in the Foothill League with six points. Saugus can gain more ground when it travels to face Burbank (7-8-1, 0-4) today.

Making Saugus' victory even more remarkable was that it came with the Centurions playing a man down for nearly the entire second half, with only one substitute remaining on the bench. Saugus' Darus Nua was sent off for a hard tackle and will sit out today's game, per Southern Section rules.

But the Centurions kept rallying, tying the game 2-2 on Tyler Rasmussen's goal with seven minutes left and then leaving with the improbable victory. Wright said the celebration was muted as the majority of his players collapsed on the field due to exhaustion at the end.

Saugus also broke out of its month-long goal-scoring slump in a major way. The Centurions had played three consecutive scoreless ties to open league play. But Wright remains cautiously optimistic about facing Burbank.