IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers THROUGH THE WICKETS—Westlake High's Andrea Todak blasts a ball through Newbury Park defender Margot Valenzuela's legs during a match last weekend at NPHS. In December, Westlake High head girls' soccer coach Frank Marino was quoted in the Acorn as saying, "I'm just hoping we can learn from our mistakes and continue to grow as a team."

It now appears as if Marino had underestimated his team's ability.

With a 5-2 home win over Agoura on Tuesday night, the Warriors remained tied with Thousand Oaks for first place in the Marmonte League with a 71-2 record heading into tonight's game at Simi Valley.

"We have a very young team, so nobody in this whole town thought we'd even make the playoffs," junior Andrea Todak said.

"By our first game of the year, the team had really gelled and was starting to play very good. I knew then that we'd surprise a lot of people."

Marino laughed when reminded of his quote from two months ago.

"Yeah, we are playing way above the expectations I had for this team," Marino said. "I only expected us to compete for the final playoff spot.

"Our team being in the position to win league says a lot about the system we run. If your team has a lot of young players that buy into the system and work hard, then you can be successful."

The offensive system WHS runs has worked well for Todak, who scored three goals against Agoura to increase her season total to a team-leading 13.

"We play three forwards in our offense, so we're able to play the sides of the field very well," Todak said.

"It felt really good to get three goals. That's the first time I've ever done that in high school."

Also scoring for Westlake Tuesday night was freshman Bianca Riazi and junior Jessica Garnett.

Assisting Todak on her first goal was freshman Taylor Perry, who Marino has been very impressed with.

"She's real quick," Marino said of Perry. "She's a young player, but she has great athletic ability, and she plays the game the right way. She has eight goals this season as well."

Other offensive weapons for Westlake include sophomores Mary Case and Chloe Wheeler, as well as juniors Bridget Berman and Nicole Gilbert.

"Our forwards are excellent," junior Sara Riazi said. "It seems we're able to get to all our through-balls. The one thing I love about this team is we're not satisfied with just one goal. Every time someone scores for us it just motivates the rest of the team to get another one."

Sara Riazi and sophomore goalkeeper Alexandra Altman have led the Warriors' defense.

"Altman has done a great job in goal for us," Marino said. "She took her lumps last year, but she's really improved."

Marino said the team has gotten better each day during the season.

"We were one of the best teams in the second half last year even though we didn't make the playoffs," Marino said.

"So what we tried to do is have a good attitude and just build off that success."

A showdown with Thousand Oaks will take place Saturday at Westlake. Game time is 4 p.m. The boys' game will follow.

"That's going to be a huge game," Marino said.

"In all honesty, it's a great rivalry. It seems we have a split with Thousand Oaks just about every year. But we can't overlook anyone. We still need to beat Simi Valley. In this league, there are no easy games."