Golden Goal Beats Poway in CIF Girls Soccer Final

After 80 minutes of scoreless play, it took only three minutes of overtime for the Torrey Pines girls soccer team to edge out Poway 1-0 for the CIF San Diego Section Division I championship.

“It’s really hard to win this title,” said Falcons coach Dennis Costello after Saturday's battle at Westview High. “Poway played tremendous and with a lot of confidence, it’s a shame anybody had to lose this game.”

After losing in the title game last year, Costello came back looking for a trophy.  “The only reason I came back this year is because I thought that we could win CIF,” said Costello, who is in his last year of coaching for the Falcons. “It feels good to go out on top.”

As the 11th-ranked team in the country, according to ESPNRise.com, Palomar League champion Torrey Pines (20-2-4) was the favorite and put on the majority of the pressure early on.

Throughout the game most of the play was on Poway’s side of the field, as Torrey Pines' high-powered offense controlled the pace of the match and created a plethora of opportunities on net.

The Falcons' attack was relentless, racking up 12 shots on goal and creating eight corner kicks in the game.

“The ball was on our side of the half the majority of the time,” said Titans goalie Kara Stickney, who had 11 saves. “Our defense has been stepping up all year and today was no different.”

Poway (16-8-2) had a stellar performance on defense to keep it close and shut down the Falcons forwards through regulation.

“Our expectation was to keep it close and steal it at the end,” said Titans coach Jen Lalor-Nielsen. “Our defense was amazing, I couldn’t have asked for anything more out of the girls.”

Poway looked to have that opportunity late in the game. With under two minutes to go, the Titans were on the break and the ball came bouncing to Cecily Gilson in front of the net, but it was poked away at the last moment by the Falcons' defense, keeping the game scoreless heading into overtime.

Three minutes in, Torrey Pines finally broke through. Courtney Massinino created some space up the right sideline and got off a low cross that found Katherine Trees, who got just enough on it to sneak it into the back of the net.

“It’s exciting to win and leave on a good note,” said Falcons senior Trees. “Feels great to do it for my coach and for my teammates.”

Titans coach Lalor-Nielsen said that there is nothing for Poway to hang their heads over. “Our whole plan was to make it to this moment, and we played with tremendous heart and passion all year. I knew we’d go far in the playoffs.”

Torrey Pines moves on to play in the regionals and for a possible state title, and Poway has to wait and see if it gets an invitation into the next round. Pairings will be announced late Sunday.

If you’d like more information about the Titans’ girls soccer program, visit their website or find them on Max Preps.