UPDATE: The Pointer boys soccer team remained focused and went on to win CIF’s Southern California Div. III Regional championship exactly one week after winning the San Diego Section Div. I title. It is the first regional title won by a PLHS team since the 2017 girls volleyball team won a state championship.

Seeded No. 4 in regionals, the Pointers earned a home game on Feb. 28 against No. 5 Newport Harbor. After the visitors took a 1-0 lead, senior Leury Castaneda blasted the tying goal for a 1-1 tie that went to penalty kicks. Junior Ethan Denney, senior Samuel Valli, and juniors Anderson Kelly and Cooper Rohnow all scored while junior goalkeeper Owen Purvis stopped three Newport shots for the 4-1 penalty kick win.

Again, the Pointers faced a No. 1 seed on March 2 in the semifinals. This time it was Quartz Hill (Antelope Valley), which came into the game having won or tied 13 straight games. But Castaneda found the net again in the first half and senior Liam Donovan iced the game on a goal off a corner kick by senior Marko Alonso.

In the March 4 final against No. 3 El Dorado (Placentia), the Pointers found themselves down 1-0 and 2-1 but Alonso scored the game-winner eight minutes before the final whistle giving the Pointers a state CIF plaque. Earlier goals by Kelly and Castaneda kept the Pointers in contention.

Finding success in any endeavor sometimes takes time to achieve, and time to perfect the final product. Such was the case this year for the Point Loma High School boys soccer team.

On what could have been a miserable night of torrential rain and chilling blasts of wind from current storms, the team that started off slowly completed its turnaround, defeating Sweetwater High 3-0 to claim the Div. I CIF championship.

After losing three of their first four games and enduring a six-game losing streak from mid-January to early February, head coach Elliott Savitz told his players after the title game the letters “CIF” weren’t even on his mind.

But after a 2-1 home loss to Coronado on Feb. 7 the Pointers were never to lose another game.

A Feb. 9 tie against University City left the team with a league record of 1-6-1 (5-10-2 overall) before fortunes reversed and the team finished 10-10-2.

Div. I playoffs began and the No. 5 seed Pointers made quick work of No. 12 Escondido with a 6-1 win. Next, they knocked out No. 4 Coronado 4-3 in penalty kicks following a scoreless game. Then it was No. 1 Torrey Pines that stood in the Pointers’ path. The top-seeded and host Falcons fell 1-0 on a late goal by junior Ethan Denney to send his team to the title game against the No. 2 Red Devils (11-8-3 overall, 4-1-1, first place in Metro Mesa League).

Both Mother Nature and the soccer Gods must have noticed the Pointers’ re-birth because not a drop of rain fell nor was the wind a factor at CIF’s selected host pitch at Torrey Pines High’s Ed Burke Stadium.

In the first half, a Red Devil shot tore across the goal mouth where junior Pointer defender Anderson Kelly kicked it away from another Red Devil waiting to tap it in.

And then the Pointers struck.

During a scramble moments later in front of the Sweetwater goal, sophomore Fin Rohnow was able to boot the ball into the net on an assist from Kelly, the only goal of the first half.

Just moments into the second half, senior Marko Alonso kicked a corner ball out to junior Eduardo Brito, stationed near the sideline about 80 feet away from the Red Devil goal. Unmarked, Brito struck a long ball into the air that appeared headed away from the far side of the net. But the spinning ball curved midair into the upper corner of the net in what could only be termed a “bend it like Beckham” shot for a 2-0 Pointer lead.

“I wasn’t sure whether to pass the ball or shoot it,” Brito recalled, “But I saw the goalie playing a bit offline so I thought ‘Maybe I have a try’ and I got it to go.”

For the next 38 minutes the Red Devils struggled mightily to score but the Pointer defense held up time after time, allowing junior Pointer goalkeeper Owen Purvis to complete his shutout of every opponent throughout the playoffs. (The goal by Escondido was scored against Purvis’ backup).

Further frustrating the Red Devils was the final Pointer score, again coming during a 63rd minute traffic jam in front of the Sweetwater goal before Denney, on another assist by Alonso, drilled the ball into the net for the final score.

The team’s turnaround rewarded Savitz with his third CIF championship, the others coming in 2016 and 2018. He praised his players after the match, noting how the return of several injured players aided the team’s success.

Denney knew his teammates were talented.

“We knew all along that we had a solid team,” he said. “We just had to put it together at the right time to win this championship.”

Brito added, “Definitely just understanding how the boys play. Working off each other, building the chemistry and we got some key players that stepped up. We are the champions!”

NOTEBOOK

PLHS principal Kelly Lowry and athletic director Manny Diaz Jr. were on hand to pass out championship patches to players.

Senior Liam Donovan received the CIF Sportsmanship Award for his play.

The scoreboard timekeeper clearly had no idea of soccer rules, stopping the game clock during injuries instead of letting it run so the referee could add “injury time” to the 40-minute halves.

The referee repeatedly signaled “play on” after a number of violent collisions before whistling them more later in the second half. Four yellow cards were issued during the match.

NOTE: The Pointers will host a CIF quarterfinal soccer state championship game on Tuesday, Feb. 28 at 5 p.m. vs. Newport Harbor High School.