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Coaching one of the San Diego CIF Section’s top boys’ soccer teams is nothing new to head coach Elliott Savitch (now in his 10th season) and his team.
Last year, Savitz’s boys put on an incredible show in the top match of the season, the Open Division championship game played at Mission Bay. Listed as big underdogs to county power Torrey Pines, the Pointers played their hearts out in a nail-biting match that saw the team’s end regulation play tied 3-3. An overtime period didn’t break the tie. In the following shootout, the Falcons prevailed 4-2 to capture the crown.
In 2018 his team won the CIF Div. I title with a hard-fought battle against Scripps Ranch that also went to a shootout after the two sides were knotted at 1-1 after regulation and overtime.
As far back as 2017, his Pointers lost a heartbreaking CIF Open Division semifinal game to St. Augustine in a shootout after the two teams battled to a scoreless tie in regulation and overtime.
Every year Savitz’s teams have played smart, tough soccer, sacrificing their bodies to carve out wins that put them not only into playoffs but earn the respect of coaches and players countywide.
This year is no different.
A number of Pointer mainstays from last year’s team have graduated but another underclassman is always prepared to step up and fill any gaps that exist.
Players like Chris Bourdon, Will Barba, and others have gone on to college but
those underclassmen have helped the Pointers move up to a No. 4 ranking of all teams in the CIF’s San Diego Section.
The teams above them are not strangers.
Ranked first is Torrey Pines once again with St. Augustine occupying the second slot. La Costa Canyon has the third spot while below the Pointers are Canyon Crest, Cathedral Catholic, San Pasqual, Oceanside, Westview with Scripps Ranch rounding out the top ten.
The Pointers have posted a 7-3 record in non-league play and will begin their brutal Western League schedule Jan. 10 against Scripps Ranch.
One particularly difficult period on the schedule requires the Pointers to play an 11 a.m. non-league game at Torrey Pines on Jan. 11 just 16 hours after their league opener.
Other Western League teams include St. Augustine, Cathedral Catholic, and Hoover.