TORREY PINES NABS CROWN FROM LCC

For the past two years, Torrey Pines was troubled by suffering losses in San Diego Section Open Division field hockey championship games.

The Falcons certainly did not want to be the runnersup for a third straight year.

They had a chance at redemption as they faced topseeded La Costa Canyon to conclude the three-game slate of CIF title games on Saturday evening at La Jolla High School.

It was a tight affair throughout, but Falcons senior forward Lucie Schroeder scored on a pass from senior Sophie Rosenblum with two minutes left in the second quarter to take a 1-0 lead, which ultimately held up.

“I think everybody deserves the credit,” said Schroeder, who is one of 13 seniors on Torrey Pines. “Sophie made an amazing pass. I know how she plays. I knew that she was going to slip it into me.

“I took it to my right and shot it in. I sort of blacked out in the moment.”

For the final 30 minutes, the Falcons defense would stave off the Mavericks (25-2), who were ranked No. 6 in the nation according to Maxpreps, to record a 1-0 victory for the Falcons’ first San Diego Section championship since 2016.

“It feels great,” Falcons head coach Courtney Spleen said. “It’s something we’ve obviously been striving for and then we’ve been super close for something we’ve tasted and now we’re finally able to achieve it.”

Division I

University City 1, Valley Center 0: The matchup featured two championship teams from 12 months ago. No. 2 University City, which was last year’s Division II winner, faced off against the reigning Division I champion, No. 4 Valley Center.

The Jags were looking for the three-peat after winning the 2021 Division II title.

The teams were all knotted up without a score

Torrey Pines 1, LCC 0

through the first 30 minutes.

Opportunities then started to arise for the Centurions, and with 11 seconds left in the third period, they took advantage on a corner.

It was senior Sydney Buchanan’s time as she found the back of the net, putting the game’s only point on the board.

“It’s such an adrenaline rush to have the ball and then (think about) what I am going to do with it and anticipating the pass,” Buchanan said. “It was like, ‘We have to do this, we have to score and we have to keep the right mindset.’ It was crazy.”

That would ultimately be the winning goal as UC (1313-3) went on to win its second straight title over the Jaguars (17-8).

“I think it’s really exciting because before last year, UC field hockey never made a CIF championship,” Centurions head coach Amber Zimmermann said. “I think it’s so cool to see these girls be able to pull it off not only once, but do it twice.”

Division II

Clairemont 1, La Jolla Country Day 0: The top two seeds featured a battle between two Eastern League squads that finished atop the league standings at 4-1.

No. 2 La Jolla Country Day faced top-seeded Clairemont (20-2), which was looking for its first CIF championship. In addition, all 17 regular season victories for the Chieftains came via shutout.

The scoring came with Clairemont junior Alexandra Cullen finding the back of the net three minutes into the match.

That would ultimately be the only goal in the game as the Chieftains hung on for the win over the Torreys (15-6).

“It’s very exciting,” Cullen said after the game. “This is our very first CIF win and league title, so it means a lot.”