Humble captain honored

Ask Alex Luevano-Harden how big a role she played in Arbor View's girls soccer team winning the Southern Nevada championship, and the senior goalkeeper instantly points to her teammates.

Ask Aggies coach Jay Howard, and he'll give his team captain due credit.

"It gets the whole team so much confidence when you have a goalkeeper of that caliber back there," Howard said. "If there is a breakdown, you're not going to let in many bad goals.

"It allowed us to be a little more attack-minded."

Luevano-Harden has been named the Review-Journal's Class 4A Girls Soccer Player of the Year.

The Akron signee allowed only seven goals this season, none in four postseason victories, to lead Arbor View (18-1-1) to its first Southern Nevada title.

"The shutouts weren't just me," Luevano-Harden said. "It's my whole team; we all work for it.

"You just have to trust your team, and they have to trust me."

Luevano-Harden took hold of the starting job as a freshman, posting 10 shutouts that season, and kept the spot her entire high school career.

"She's just a very driven kid," Howard said. "She's so good technically because she works so hard and has for several years."

The Aggies raised the banner for the first postseason championship in the school's five-year history Friday before students departed for spring break.

"It was a real joy to get to see the players enjoy that moment and embrace it," Howard said.

Luevano-Harden called the Aggies' run to the title her "most memorable year."

"I'll remember it forever," she said. "I love this group of girls, and I'll never forget the coaches who helped us."

Contact reporter Tristan Aird at taird@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203.