SOPHOMORE'S GOAL GIVES TITLE TO T.O. T.O. 1, LOYOLA 0.

Byline: Matthew Kredell Staff Writer

FULLERTON - Jason Leopoldo and Diego Barrera often have carried the Thousand Oaks High boys' soccer team on their shoulders. As they walked toward the postgame handshakes after the Southern Section Div. II final Saturday, the load had been lessened by one particular player.

On a team that has been compared to an all-star squad because of five players from a national-champion club team, sophomore Johnathan Wessely - a part-time starter who had never scored a varsity goal - was getting the hero's treatment.

Wessely kicked a line drive into the lower left corner of the net in the 72nd minute to break a scoreless tie and give Thousand Oaks its first boys' soccer title with a 1-0 victory over Loyola of Los Angeles at Cal State Fullerton.

``The defense was marking Jason and Diego and I just slipped in there,'' said Wessely, who had never been interviewed before Saturday. ``I saw Miguel (Morales) with the ball and thought if he could get it to me on the ground, I was wide open. When I got it, I knew I was going to shoot it.''

Wessely was quickly enveloped by teammates and the Thousand Oaks bench erupted. Then the team settled back down for what coach Mark Tietjen called ``the longest seven minutes and four seconds of my life.''

Loyola had a few more opportunities but didn't come close to scoring and, as the final minute counted down, the crowd began chanting, ``T.O.''

Thousand Oaks (27-3-3), ranked No. 1 by the Daily News and top seed in the division, was a preseason favorite on paper - especially with Leopoldo, Barrera, Erick Alvarez, Dylan Riley and Josh Underwood having won the national title with the SoCal United club team over the summer.

But the Lancers had lackadaisical stretches with key players having other obligations. Thousand Oaks lost its first Marmonte League game to Calabasas and didn't take first place until the final game of the regular season.

``We always knew we had the talent,'' Tietjen said. ``We knew we had the talent last year, but we just didn't get it done. This time, we did.''

Goalkeeper Kenny Negron played what Tietjen called his best game of the season for Thousand Oaks. Early in the second half, he made a spectacular leaping save of a free kick from just outside the box by Loyola's Andreas Andrews.

Negron has 13 shutouts on the season, but for most of them credit was given to a defense led by senior Kai Werring.

Matthew Kredell, [phone]

matthew.kredell(at)dailynews.com

--Part-time starter Johnathan Wessely scores the game's only goal in the 72nd minute to give the Lancers' their first boys' soccer section championship.