Harvard-Westlake boys soccer beats Jurupa Hills for Division 2 title with its typically tough defense

LONG BEACH — The Harvard-Westlake boys soccer team was an impenetrable force during Saturday’s CIF Southern Section Division 2 championship match.

The Wolverines shut out Jurupa Hills 1-0 with an impressive outing from their back line and overall team defense at Veterans Stadium.

It is the first boys soccer title for the Wolverines (14-5-2).

The Wolverines were quick to clear out, recover and shut down any of the speedy attacks by the Spartans (17-7-4).

Center back Sam Reiner was critical in that effort but made his biggest impact on the other side of the field, where he scored the only goal of the match.

The goal was Reiner’s first of the season and came in the sixth minute after a corner kick took a few tips, including one off the crossbar, and landed in front of the center back before he drilled it home.

“I thought (the first shot) was in for a second, but it was off the crossbar,” Reiner said. “I was just there and I basically couldn’t miss. I just had to be there, tap it in. Get focused and get my foot on the ball.”

The Wolverines had a handful of other chances throughout the contest but couldn’t find a comfort goal.

Tyler Park and Micah Rossen, the Mission League Offensive MVP, each had a handful of chances on quick counters before the Jurupa Hills defense recovered.

Jurupa Hills provided tough matchups all over for Harvard-Westlake. The Spartans entered the championship bout with multiple double-digit goal scorers this season and plenty of other talented players.

“(Jurupa Hills is) a good team,” Reiner said. “They had a lot of the ball today, and they had some good dribblers. But I think this playoff run, we’ve just been so locked in at the back. We’ve been working together, communicating, just focusing and going in hard, sacrificing our bodies.”

Jurupa Hills had a few chances in the contest but every time the team managed to get a ball past the Harvard-Westlake back line, sophomore goalkeeper Jackson Friedman was ready to make a save.

Wolverines coach Michael Erush said the game was won thanks to a strong defensive that produced the team’s fourth shutout of the playoffs.

“Jackson was an unbelievable freshman and coming into his sophomore years, he’s grown a lot,” Erush said. “We’re very proud to have a sophomore in the back, but I think credit goes to the back line. The center backs with Jack (Letterman) and Sam. It was a collective effort defensively. I can’t just point out one guy defensively.”

One of the Spartans’ best opportunities came with just four minutes left in the contest. Friedman collided with Jurupa Hills junior Adrian Luna as both were clawing for a jump ball. The keeper kept the ball out of the goal but it took a couple of bounces in front of a wide-open net before a host of Wolverines cleared it away.

In the second half, Jurupa Hills relentlessly pushed inside the box, where it dominated possession. The Spartans’ last attempt also made it deep into the penalty box but Letterman sealed the win with a clear out.

“Credit to Jurupa,” Erush said. “They have some special players, some talented players. We knew that they could break us in different ways, but we wanted to make sure that we’re defensively organized. I always tell our guys ‘defense wins championships.’ We were organized, we created and we gritted out a result that I would say we deserved.”

Harvard-Westlake worked toward winning a CIF title with a brutal schedule early in the season. The Wolverines stumbled against the tough competition but continued to grow despite just two wins in its first seven matches.

Since then, the Wolverines have won 11 of their last 12 matches and allowed just one goal through five tough postseason battles.

“We have a very tough nonconference schedule,” Erush said. “We played three or four Open (playoff) teams… I would take some blame for it, but that helped us to be in the moment that we are now. We started off slow, but again, the seniors, we have a lot of seniors, and they came in and led the way. Halfway through the season, we had a conversation, and ever since that conversation, I think we’ve lost one game.”

“We’re not done yet” could be heard in the Harvard-Westlake huddle after the contest. The team’s journey will continue next week in the CIF SoCal Regional playoffs.

“We have regionals coming up next week, hopefully we can go win that too,” Reiner said. “I believe we can.”