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Poway's storybook run ends - Poway Players & Coach Whine

By SCOTT BAIR - Staff Writer | North San Diego Times - Saturday, March 8, 2008 9:41 PM PST

DOWNEY ---- Shuttling up and down the state on a bus during the past six days, the Poway High boys soccer team logged more than 1,000 miles on its bracket-busting journey through the Southern California Regional championships.

A No. 7 seed in Division I turned the Titans into road warriors who grew to relish their role as underdogs, disposing of No. 3 Fresno Roosevelt and No. 2 Santa Ana Saddleback in the process. On Saturday afternoon, they had top-seeded Santa Monica by the throat.

But Poway, which had turned into destiny's darling, couldn't pull off another upset. Santa Monica sneaked a game-winner past the Titans' vaunted defense to secure a 2-1 overtime win at Warren High, giving the Vikings the Division I regional championship.

The result didn't reflect the match itself, as Poway (22-3-4) controlled possession and generated a greater number of scoring opportunities against the Vikings (29-0-1).

"We've been given no respect, from the seeding all the way through the final match," Titans coach Gene Morris said. "We came in here as an underdog, and although the score doesn't reflect it, I believe we were the better team. There is no shame in this result. I'm so proud of this group, which persevered against all odds."

Santa Monica's goal was shocking to a crowd that was clearly preparing for a penalty shootout. Juan Magana sent a slow roller goalward 10 minutes into the sudden-death overtime period; it deflected off another player and trickled past the goal line.

"It was unlucky," said Poway midfielder (#9) E.J. Skeenluth. "I don't think there was anything we could have done about that, which is the toughest thing to take. None of us feel like they truly beat us. (Santa Monica) just caught a break at an opportune time."

It was an anticlimactic end to a playoff run filled with drama.

The Titans won the CIF San Diego Section final and their regional opener on penalty kicks, and had new heroes emerge from every passing win.

Poway almost had a few more against Santa Monica, ranked No. 2 in the nation by studentsports.com.

Skeenluth had an expertly bent free kick smack off the crossbar and Collin Wooster had a few headers narrowly miss the target. He found the net in the 49th minute, which negated Ricardo Martinez's goal just two minutes after he scored it.

Zach Olow and Gunnar Emery played near-flawless defense once again, and Spencer Skeen controlled the central midfield, an area in which Santa Monica was thought to have a clear advantage.

Poway earned the respect of an entire region during this long road trip, which had everything but a storybook ending.

"That doesn't take away from all we accomplished," Wooster said. "We obviously wanted a win here, but this week still stands as one of the best experiences I've had playing soccer. Nothing can change that."