March 8, 2008

Poway Senior Collin Wooster forced the Division I CIF Southern California Regional Championship into overtime, but the San Diego Section champs fell 2-1 in overtime to top-seeded Santa Monica at Warren HS in Downey on Saturday. Even with the loss, Poway coach Gene Morris was extremely proud of his team, calling the season the best in the school's history, helped out because this is the first year of soccer regionals.

The seventh-seeded Titans (22-3-4) gave everything they had and were undaunted by predictions of a big win by Santa Monica 29-0-1). The Titans' play was quick and aggressive, competing evenly with the Vikings.

Along with Wooster, Peter Katakalidis, Zach Olow and Spencer Skeen were key in Poway hanging tough against the undefeated Vikings.

Both Poway and Santa Monica started out at a hectic pace with Santa Monica putting intense pressure on the Titans’ defense and Weinberg. The inability of both teams to get clear shots in the net in the first half led to frustration and a much more physical match. The first half saw two yellows, one from each side. Poway’s best chance at a score in the first half came when the Titans were awarded a free kick right outside the box. Senior E.J. Schneekluth took the kick but found the crossbar instead of the net. Keeping the score at goose eggs was the effort of Poway defender Olow, who managed to get a foot on most balls close the net.

The second half brought out two teams determined to score, and Santa Monica succeeded first when junior Ricardo Martinez found the net in the 47th minute in a dramatic score that left him on the ground for a few short minutes. Not to be outdone, Wooster answered back two minutes later with a close shot and evened the score, 1-1. Santa Monica had a great opportunity to win in regulation with two corner kicks in the final 30 seconds of play, but neither found the net.

Overtime brought few chances for either team to find the net. It looked like Santa Monica might have a chance at the win in the eighth minute when the Vikings were awarded a penalty kick, but the shot went high. The game anticlimactically with a slow roller tapped in by junior Juan Magana in the 10th minute of OT. Weinberg had eight saves in the match. –Julie Cudney