Highland's Samantha Johnson gets hat trick, ties Haghdan
Samantha Johnson’s hat trick Tuesday not only helped the Highland of Palmdale girls’ soccer team remain in a first-place tie in the Golden League, but it also pulled the USC-bound junior even with Sahar Haghdan on the Bulldogs’ all-time scoring list.
Johnson accounted for all of Highland’s offense in a 3-1 victory at Knight of Palmdale, giving her 20 goals this season and 71 in her career, matching the four-year total of Haghdan (2001-05), now at Long Beach State.
Johnson, who helped Highland (10-4-2, 7-1) rebound from Friday’s 1-0 loss to Quartz Hill (11-4-1, 7-1), will try to set the record Friday against Littlerock.
"Even with all the goals, she's always been pass first, score second," Highland coach Juan Paolo said. "She's one of the most unselfish players I've ever been around. It's because of her that we have girls like Ana Perez and Leanne Brown scoring eight or nine goals. When Sam is out on the field, we have two of our players running loose all the time because every team has two or three players trying to stop her."
Johnson had 39 goals as a freshman, but only 12 last season as injuries and U.S. Under-16 national-team pool commitments limited her time with the Bulldogs. Sixteen of Johnson's goals this season have come in six league matches, including a season-high four Jan. 4 against Littlerock.