Lions are back on top of Tri-Valley League




BACK OF  THE NET—OCHS goal-scorer Patrick Harmon is a key  contributor  for  the  league champion boys’ soccer squad.

BACK OF THE NET—OCHS goal-scorer Patrick Harmon is a key contributor for the league champion boys’ soccer squad.

The Lions were already good.

With the return of one of their best players, they could be great.

The Oaks Christian boys’ soccer team, which has already wrapped up a Tri-Valley League championship, welcomed senior midfielder Aidan Leonard back to the pitch on Feb. 1 against rival Oak Park.

Leonard, who snapped his left shin in November while playing with his academy team, played 10 minutes in the Lions’ 5-1 victory against the Eagles. The bench went wild and the home crowd roared when Leonard entered.

The 18-year-old, who plans on playing soccer and studying medicine at Brown University, wasn’t even supposed to touch the ball in his comeback—but his teammates kept finding him.

“It was just like old times,” Leonard said.

After helping Oaks Christian win a CIF-Southern Section Division 5 championship in 2008, Leonard spent his junior year playing exclusively with a highlevel traveling club.

“I missed the guys,” he said of his Lion teammates. “I missed the experience.”

An injury derailed Leonard’s plans to play most of this season, but he’s excited to get a chance to contribute to Oaks Christian’s postseason run.

He’s also giddy about playing with his younger brother, Quinn, for the first time. Quinn Leonard is a sophomore defender/ midfielder.

The rest of the Lions played solid soccer while Leonard was out.

Oaks Christian was 14-1-2 overall and 9-0-1 in the TVL entering Wednesday’s home match against Carpinteria. OCHS, which hasn’t lost since Dec. 1 against Santa Barbara, wraps up the regular season today at 3:15 p.m. at Bishop Diego.

“We have a good core of seniors,” said head coach Sebastian Alvarado, who has guided the team since the school’s inception.

“We have good chemistry. The guys play for each other.”

A pair of explosive forwards leads the Lions offensively.

Senior Patrick Harmon and junior Diego Calix had 16 and 19 goals, respectively, entering this week.

Harmon, who will study geophysics at Vanderbilt, has enjoyed exchanging fireworks with Calix, who suited for Moorpark last year.

“He plays with a lot of fire,” Harmon said of Calix. “He fires me up and he fires up the whole team.”

Harmon, who scored four goals in a win at Malibu, said the OCHS midfield and defense has been underrated and vital to the flourishing offense.

“The key reason for our success is teams can’t seem to move the ball on us,” the forward said.

Calix, who played on the U17 El Salvador national team last year, said he was immediately embraced by his teammates.

“I love my team,” he said. “Everyone has really come together as one. Everyone likes each other on this team.”

Senior center midfielder Zach Rush is the team’s aerial specialist—he relishes jumping and winning headers.

Rush, who has applied to multiple prestigious academic schools like Brown and the University of Chicago, said the formula for success has been simple. And he thinks this team has more talent than the one that won a section title two years ago.

“We had a lot of luck that year (2008),” Rush said. “We have clutch defenders, forwards who know how to score and a midfield that equalizes the center.”

Goalkeepers Kyle Smith and Christian Campat share the workload at the net. Rush said Smith is a big, aggressive keeper while Campat has polished technique. Rush said they’re both dependable.

Rush is also delighted to have Aidan Leonard back.

“He’s so huge for us,” he said. “His injury was a setback. We managed to do well without him. I’m happy to have him back.”

Alvarado called defender Conor Mason the team’s inspirational leader.

Mason started at goalie during the 2008 title run. The senior thinks Oaks Christian can enjoy another strong finish, this time in Division 4.

“This team likes playing hard and likes winning,” said Mason, who will attend the University of Pennsylvania and possibly focus on studying bioengineering or biomedicine.

“I’m extremely excited to go to the playoffs. This team is confident.”

Mason is joined in the flat four defensive backfield by Chris Darling, Sean Sweeney and Justin Phillips.

Micah Borowitz and Jared Beiermann have added a dynamic element to the midfield, Harmon said. The senior Borowitz took a year off from soccer in 2008 but has given the team a big lift, Alvarado added.

Sean Hanson, Michael Davis, Gabe Jefferson, Max Kalp, Nick Sweeney, Tommy Crowle, Andrew Delaplane, Scott Dulgeroff and Chris Breen also contribute for the Lions.

Although Oaks Christian has one more league game remaining, the Lions know the postseason is on the horizon.

“We need to stay healthy, commit to working hard the whole game and have a little luck,” Harmon said. “The winning team gets lucky at some point.”

Maybe Aidan Leonard will be the Lions’ lucky charm.

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