NOTEBOOK: BACKLINE TRIO IS KEY FOR HIGHLAND BULLDOGS ATOP GOLDEN LEAGUE STANDINGS.

Byline: Erik Boal  Special to the Daily News

Samantha Johnson and Farryn Townley are enjoying record-setting seasons for Highland High's girls' soccer team.

Although Bulldogs coach Juan Paolo is impressed with the production of his offensive standouts, ask him which statistics most delight him, and without hesitation, the words ``goals allowed'' and ``shutouts'' come out of his mouth.

Johnson's 28 goals - tying Sahar Haghdan's school record (2002-03) for most in a season - and Townley's 23 assists, which passed Diana Mendez's mark of 22 set last season, have been big reasons why Highland is alone atop the Golden League standings.

Thanks to the backline play of seniors Hillary Anderson and Amanda Thielhart and sophomore Erika Sargent, the Bulldogs plan on staying there.

With senior goalkeeper Kellie Drenner and junior defensive midfielder Alex Fulladosa, the three defenders have been instrumental in Highland (16-2-2 overall, 7-0-0 Golden) surrendering only 11 goals and recording 11 shutouts entering today's 6 p.m. showdown at rival Quartz Hill (9-5-2, 5-1-1).

``For us, it's a really big pride thing,'' said Thielhart, who scored her first goal of the season in Tuesday's 8-0 romp over Antelope Valley. ``We can't even let (our opponent) get a shot off or we feel like we're letting our team and our school down.''

One of the primary things Paolo stressed when he took charge of the program last season was team defense. The result was a school-record 18 shutouts, the most of any area girls' team.

``Teams have to be built from the back forward or else it won't work,'' said Anderson, who ranks among Bulldogs leaders with six assists. ``It's exciting to score and assist on goals, but I really like (playing defense).

``At the beginning of every game, we have team goals and personal goals. One of them is, obviously, to keep our (run of) shutouts going.''

The unselfish attitude hasn't been lost on Paolo, who cites the versatility of his backline among the team's biggest strengths.

``They've all played sweeper on their respective club teams, so they're all like little gnats back there pressuring the ball,'' he said. ``I tell them to go mark someone, and they take it as a personal challenge to make sure they can't even turn, let alone score. I can't say enough about what they've done.''

Anderson and Thielhart were accustomed to playing with Amy Butala and Jennifer LaMoure on defense last season, before Paolo decided to give the sweeper responsibilities to the freshman Sargent halfway through the season.

``It's hard to bring one person into the mix, but we just clicked right away,'' said Anderson, who has helped the Bulldogs win an area-best 38 games the past two seasons. ``I think it's definitely a huge asset (to have more than one sweeper). If Erika were to get hurt, Amanda or I can go back into her position, and we'd still be OK.''

After Paolo made the decision to move LaMoure to an outside midfield position to bolster Highland's attack, the result was more goals - and more shutouts.

``We have the best chemistry you can find in high school,'' said Sargent, who has a goal and three assists. ``We never fight, there's no arguing, and without the two of them, I wouldn't feel whole back there. I know a lot of teams respect our defense because we're so solid and we stay strong (throughout the game).''

Although the chemistry has helped Highland record some impressive victories, including Thursday's 4-0 triumph over previously unbeaten Lancaster (14-1-3, 5-1-1), they've yet to win at Quartz Hill. The Bulldogs hope to tonight.

``It gives us so much motivation because it's one of our biggest games of the year,'' Thielhart said. ``Everyone wants to put so much effort into the game and everyone wants to contribute. It's something we really want to do.''

Erik Boal, [phone]

erik.boal(at)dailynews.com