Harvard-Westlake’s Boys Earn a Passing Grade, 2-1

Students at Harvard-Westlake are taking finals this week, but the Wolverine boys’ soccer team passed a test of a different sort Thursday in a Mission League game against Notre Dame.

With Loyola apparently the class of the league, Harvard-Westlake’s 2-1 victory at Notre Dame solidified second place for the Wolverines (11-5, 4-1 in league play).

Notre Dame (5-4-3, 2-1-1) took a 1-0 lead in the third minute on Christian Thomsen’s goal but found itself tied eight minutes later when Lerato Simelane leaped to head in Danny Sable’s corner kick.

Harvard-Westlake got the winning goal in the 18th minute when Simelane, a sophomore from South Africa, sent a pass to Fred Post, whose 30-yard blast curved past goalkeeper Hector Areliz and into the net.

Play remained even until the latter stages of the game, when Notre Dame pressed forward and threatened to forge a tie. But led by senior sweeper Zach Schwartz, the Wolverine defense was equal to the task.

“In my book they wanted it a bit more than we did,” Notre Dame Coach Colm McFeely said. “[Schwartz] had a major part in the outcome. He goes to balls hard, he tackles and he organizes them back there.”

Schwartz, who is considering Stanford, Harvard and Dartmouth as his college choices, evokes memories of Jason Morrow, a standout sweeper at Harvard-Westlake who was a senior and a member of The Times’ all-region team during the 1995-96 season.

That team was the Wolverines’ last to make the playoffs and Schwartz believes this squad can earn a postseason berth.

“That team with Jason and even last year’s team had more talent than our team now but I’ve never played on a team with more heart than this one,” Schwartz said.

In other boys’ games:

Canoga Park 2, Reseda 2--Canoga Park’s Israel Torres scored the game’s final goal midway through the second half, allowing the Hunters to surprise the Regents (9-0-3, 6-0-2) in a Valley Pac-8 Conference game at Reseda.

North Hollywood 3, Van Nuys 1--Reserve Walter Perez scored two goals in the second half for the Huskies (6-2, 6-2) in a Valley Pac-8 Conference game at North Hollywood.

Ventura 2, Oxnard 1--Mike Enfield scored twice in the second half, including the winner with four minutes to play and the Cougars (9-5-1, 3-3-1) won a Channel League game at Ventura.

GIRLS

Alemany 3, Flintridge Sacred Heart 3--Erin Granados scored as regulation time expired and teammate Karen McMillan added a goal with a minute remaining in overtime to give the Indians (6-6-3, 2-1-2) a Mission League draw at St. Francis High.

Cleveland 2, Kennedy 1--Angela Veliz scored twice to lift the Cavaliers (11-4, 3-1) in a West Valley League game at Kennedy.

El Camino Real 1, Palisades 0--Melissa Cleal’s first-half goal gave the Conquistadores (6-3-1, 2-1-1) a Coast-Valley League victory at El Camino Real.

Birmingham 6, San Fernando 0--Krissy Oakes scored four goals, giving her 27 this season, for the Braves (9-2-1, 4-0) in a West Valley League game at San Fernando.