CANYON UPSET BY HIGHLAND SECOND-HALF GOALS LIFT BULLDOGS HIGHLAND 2, CANYON 0.

Byline: Erik Boal Special to the Daily News

PALMDALE - Through its first five games, the Canyon of Canyon Country girls' soccer team had become accustomed to playing a certain style.

Nini Loucks and Shannon Omahen were applying constant pressure to defenses, Leah Cromwell was seldom tested in goal, and Kellie Corbett, Shannon Moore and Chelsea Seidenglanz enjoyed pushing opposing teams around with their superior skill.

On Thursday night, Canyon met an opponent that finally pushed back.

After many years of being overshadowed by the elite teams in the region, Highland of Palmdale made a big statement at the expense of the visiting Cowboys, recording two second-half goals to post a 2-0 nonleague victory.

``Some eyes are going to be open (today),'' said Highland first-year coach Juan Paolo, who received a goal in the 47th minute from Janet Mendez and an insurance goal in the 74th minute from Diana Mendez.

``Hopefully, now our girls will start believing how good they can be.''

Highland (4-0-1), ranked No. 10 by the Daily News, was coming off a 2-1 victory against Redondo Union of Redondo Beach in a pool-play game of Saturday's South Torrance Tournament. But the Bulldogs' three senior captains - Kellie Drenner, Jennifer LaMoure and Salma Perez - took more satisfaction in beating No. 5 Canyon (5-1) after suffering a 3-0 setback last season.

``This year, to finally get the results that we want, it feels really good,'' said LaMoure, who led a defensive effort that limited Canyon to just one shot on goal in the final 25 minutes. ``Our defense is experienced and we all know what's going on. And I think once we settled down, things started clicking.''

Both teams suffered from nervous energy in the first half, with Canyon mounting the only serious attack in the early going, which was turned away by Drenner, who finished with six saves.