NOTEBOOK: PARACLETE GIRLS WIN INDOOR SOCCER TITLE.

Byline: Erik Boal Special to the Daily News

For the first time in four years, Highland's girls' soccer team didn't leave the Antelope Valley Arena with the Summer Indoor Soccer League championship.

That honor went to Paraclete, which defeated previously unbeaten Lancaster 1-0 in the July 28 final.

However, the Bulldogs didn't walk away empty-handed. Goalkeeper Kellie Drenner was awarded a $250 scholarship, given to the league's most valuable player. The senior, who had the highest save percentage and third-lowest goals against average in the league, was the second Highland player in as many years to receive the scholarship.

The inaugural recipient was midfielder Salma Perez, who received a near-full scholarship last week from Long Beach State to join former Highland teammate Sahar Haghdan on the 49ers' women's soccer team.

Drenner led Highland (5-3-1) to two victories on the final day of competition, including a 5-3 win over Antelope Valley (5-4), which finished third. The Bulldogs - who were led offensively by Stephanie Sanchez (13 goals) - finished the day with a 6-4 victory over Knight.

``(Finishing third) is pretty good for playing with mostly JVs and (incoming freshmen),'' Highland coach Juan Paolo said. ``The one real positive thing about (this summer) was that Kellie was given the scholarship award. She worked so hard and it's great to see her be recognized.''

Although Drenner was honored for her season, she was upstaged July 28 by Paraclete's Karina Albaron and Danielle Skidmore, who combined in goal to defeat Lancaster (5-1-2).

Allyson Guilford scored her third goal of the summer in the first half as the Spirits won their first championship. Paraclete (6-1-1), which finished the summer unbeaten in its last seven games, shut down Maria Arroyo and Patty Garcia, who combined for 33 goals in the Eagles' previous seven games.

Paraclete allowed a combined four goals in their last four games. The Spirits, making their second appearance in the title game following a loss to Highland in 2003, were also the league's most balanced offensive team, with Natalie Gutierrez and Liz Lambert each scoring four goals.

Samantha Moreno was strong in goal for Lancaster - the league's best defensive team - allowing only 12 goals. The Eagles tied Paraclete 1-1 in their previous meeting July 19.

Frazier Mountain's Shelly Birtell (25 goals), Antelope Valley's Stacy Guivaro (21) and Knight's Nancy Marquez (19) finished as the league's top three scorers.

--Palmdale wins title: It wasn't as easy as most thought, but Palmdale's boys' soccer team won its first SISL title, despite a 3-2 loss to Knight in the season finale.

The Falcons (6-2) could have wrapped up the championship outright with a victory or a Littlerock (6-2) loss, but the Lobos defeated Highland 7-5, creating a tie for first.

Because the teams split their two meetings during the season - Littlerock won 7-4 on July 11 and Palmdale 4-2 on July 20 - league officials used the overall goals-against tiebreaker to determine the champion.

Palmdale allowed 31 goals and Littlerock 38, so the Falcons were awarded the title following a runner-up finish to Antelope Valley last season.

Palmdale's Jose Garay was given a $250 scholarship as the league's best player, after leading the Falcons with 11 goals. Antelope Valley's Juan Rodriguez was the first recipient of the award last year.

Robbie Gonzalez and Sharif Khatib tied as the league's top scorers, leading third-place Highland (4-4) with 16 goals each.

Erik Boal, [phone]

erik.boal(at)dailynews.com