GIRLS' SOCCER: Harvard-Westlake, T.O. perfectly content to be tied

If there was any questions about the strength of Harvard-Westlake of Studio City's defense, Maddie Lenard and Clara Jaques answered them in impressive fashion Thursday night.

If there were any doubts about Thousand Oaks' resolve, the Lancers demonstrated their toughness against one of the toughest girls' soccer programs in Southern California.

The results were both ties for the area's top two teams on the first day of the Mater Dei Premier Invitational, setting up a crucial pool-play showdown at 6:45 p.m. today at Mater Dei.

Lenard anchored an inspired defensive effort in front of Jaques (nine saves) for Harvard-Westlake (5-0-1), which recorded its fifth shutout this year in a 0-0 draw with Tesoro of Rancho Santa Margarita (2-0-5), ranked No. 16 in the state and No. 32 nationally by ESPN/Rise Magazine.

Jaques hasn't surrendered a goal, as both of the Wolverines' goals allowed came with the starting goalkeeper already on the sidelines after Harvard-Westlake -- ranked No. 25 in the state -- built a 4-0 lead against Oaks Christian of Westlake Village.

Thousand Oaks' path to its 1-1 tie with Long Beach Wilson, ranked No. 4 in the state and No. 6 nationally, was equally as difficult, but for much different reasons. The Lancers (3-0-2), 10th in the state and 17th in the country, got stuck in traffic and we're an hour late in arriving to their match.

Thousand Oaks, which lost to Wilson 3-0 in last year's Southern California Div. I regional final, then had five minutes to warm up and/or use the restroom, before the 60-minute match began (cut down from 70 because of the late arrival). Only making matters worse for the Lancers, Wilson (4-0-2), took a 1-0 lead in the first five minutes.

But Thousand Oaks rebounded in the second half, as Michelle Cruz scored for the second time in as many days, one-timing a well-placed free kick from Alyson Birgel to pull the Lancers even with 10 minutes remaining.

So, after one day, not much was settled in Group D -- otherwise known as the "Group of Death" -- but plenty was learned. Thousand Oaks and Wilson both have 4 points and Harvard-Westlake and Tesoro both have 3. Wins earn 6 points and ties get 3, with each team getting an extra 1 point for each goal scored up to a maximum of 3 goals and an extra 1 point for a shutout.

In Group C, El Camino Real of Woodland Hills suffered a 2-1 loss Thursday to Foothill of Santa Ana and plays at 2:30 p.m. today against Aliso Niguel of Aliso Viejo (7-0-1) -- ranked No. 2 nationally -- which recorded a 3-0 victory over Cathedral Catholic of San Diego (2-2-2), ranked No. 13 in the state and No. 24 nationally.