The Fast Track to Success

WOODLAND HILLS — A program that didn’t exist four years ago will play today for the City Section boys’ soccer championship.

Like the phoenix, El Camino Real High has risen from the ashes, progressing steadily to its 2 p.m. title match against Belmont at East Los Angeles College.

The Conquistadores are, as a unit, an intriguing cast of characters. Coach David Hussey never played soccer. Goalkeeper Phil Graham is in his first high school season. Sweeper Mike Montgomery spends considerably more time studying for academic competitions than he does practicing soccer.

And then there are the star forwards, Gerardo Herrera and Jason Leonard, who have combined for 33 goals.

El Camino Real finished second in the Northwest Valley Conference and was held in such low regard that it was seeded 17th in the 32-team City playoffs. That was two weeks and four road victories ago.

The Conquistadores have improved their record to 20-3-6 and proved they are for real. Belmont (16-2-3) is seeded second.

“At first the kids were mad we didn’t get a home [playoff match],” Hussey said. “But we played to prove people wrong and show we deserved to be seeded higher.”

Hussey, 30, teaches history at El Camino Real. Four years ago, after the Conquistadores disbanded and missed a season for lack of a coach, Hussey shouldered the responsibility of restarting the team.

“I had help from other coaches and I read books, but really the kids are my teachers,” said Hussey, who grew up playing basketball.

Their first season back, the Conquistadores were 1-6-4 in an earthquake-shortened campaign. Players focused on having fun and getting along.

The past three seasons, El Camino Real is 41-22-11. The Conquistadores have progressed in the playoffs each year, losing in the first round in 1995 and in the second round in 1996.

In its most impressive performances, El Camino Real downed top-seeded Reseda in the second round in the playoffs. Earlier, the Conquistadores thumped Moorpark, a Southern Section Division IV semifinalist, and lost to Royal, the Division I champion, in a shootout.

El Camino Real has come together in pieces over the course of the season. Herrera played the first six games in goal before Graham, an aggressive 6-foot-2 senior who was temporarily ineligible for disciplinary reasons, came out for the team.

In addition, freshman defender Chris Johnstone bolstered the back line, allowing Eric Choi to move to midfield and freeing Leonard, formerly a midfielder, to join Herrera at forward.

“Our entire lineup has changed since the beginning of the season,” said Montgomery, a four-year starter. “Everybody’s fallen into the position at which they can best help the team.”

Herrera has 17 goals; Leonard 16. Graham has 10 shutouts. And Montgomery directs the defense with composure and anticipation.

“There are some individuals that not everybody loves off the field, but on the field we don’t exclude anybody,” Montgomery said. “Everybody’s involved and that’s why we’re successful.”

Montgomery’s involvement is such that soccer is only a small part of the 14 hours a day he spends at El Camino Real. A member of the varsity academic decathlon team, he often studies before and after practice, arriving home around 10 most weeknights.

Among Montgomery’s plans this morning is three hours of studying before he boards the team’s bus.

“He’s the backbone of the team,” Hussey said. “He puts our players in places and situations where they should be.”

As for El Camino Real’s current place, a spot in the City title match, Hussey told his players he expected as much a long time ago.

“We’re sound defensively, everybody’s given up a little bit of personal gain and we play together,” Hussey said.