BOYS' SOCCER NOTEBOOK: HIGHLAND IN LEAGUE DRIVER'S SEAT.

Byline: Ross Siler Staff Writer

Alone in first place after the opening round of Golden League play, the Highland boys' soccer team spent the week trying to refocus after last Thursday's 2-1 victory over Quartz Hill. It wasn't always the easiest task, though, for the Bulldogs' players.

``We got lots of congratulations,'' Highland coach Danny Young said. ``Other coaches, teachers and the school, students. Everyone was saying, `Good job.' Definitely, it was a big win for us.''

Highland (10-2-5, 4-0-1) knocked off the defending Southern Section Division I co-champions on Sean Wilson's goal with 20 minutes to play, breaking a 1-1 tie. Senior defender Aaron Wilson staked the Bulldogs to a 1-0 lead in the first half.

The Bulldogs, ranked No. 6 in the area, will begin the second round of league play today against Antelope Valley. Highland has been led by forward Mauricio Harrie and leads the Golden League with 13 points through the first five games. The only game the Bulldogs failed to win was a 1-1 tie against Lancaster on Wednesday.

``We just need to stay focused and come out (today) strong and intense,'' said Young, whose team had lost twice to Quartz Hill last year but beat the Rebels in the 2000-01 season.

Quartz Hill (3-1-1) is second in the league standings with 10 points, followed by Palmdale (3-2) with nine and Lancaster (2-1-2) with eight. The top three teams will receive spots in the Division I playoffs, with the distant possibility of an at-large berth for the fourth-place team.

--The last unbeaten: With its 8-2 victory over Bishop last Saturday, Desert Christian improved to 9-0-1, the last team in the area without a loss. The Knights are ranked sixth in the latest Southern Section Division VI poll.

Despite his team's record, Desert Christian coach Jon Spencer continues to stress the importance of improving to his players and not getting caught up in their current success. The real test will come after the High Desert League season, the first-year coach added.

``We haven't played our best yet,'' said Spencer, who fielded a full team for the first time in two weeks against Bishop. ``We're not going to go out and say we're the best team around. We're just trying to train in such a way that we're ready for the playoffs.''

Senior strikers Adam Sultan and Stephen Seston each are approaching 20 goals on the season, with Sultan scoring four times against Bishop and Seston three. Meanwhile, Spencer, who returned home to Lancaster to train for a professional soccer career, had a tryout this week with the A- League's new expansion team in Syracuse, N.Y.

--A rebuilding year: In his first year as Antelope Valley's coach, Richard Savage thought the Antelopes had turned a corner. After not winning a Golden League game in the three seasons before his arrival, A.V. won three league games last season and caught several opponents off-guard.

But as the Antelopes' 0-4-1 league start has shown, there's work left to be done. A.V. (5-10-1) had been outscored 17-4 in its first three league losses before tying Littlerock 3-3 last Wednesday.

``We kind of opened up some people's eyes last year,'' Savage said. ``And I thought we might be able to keep up that momentum. But we graduated a lot of players and have six sophomores on the varsity right now. I'm just looking for us to be more competitive.''

There is reason for Savage to be optimistic. Junior Tony Alatorre, a center midfielder, has played well in his second varsity season, as have junior Steve Alonso and sophomore Julio Robles. The coach should have all three back for next season.