3-A Soccer Finals : Torrey Pines Teams Test No. 1s : Valhalla Boys, Bonita Vista Girls Defend Titles

Home-field advantage, or lack of it, was the main issue heading into tonight’s San Diego Section 3-A boys’ and girls’ soccer championships.

In the boys’ title match, No. 1 seed and two-time defending champion Valhalla (22-0-1) is to play No. 6 Torrey Pines (19-6-0) at 8 p.m. on Torrey Pines’ field.

In the girls’ championship, No. 1 seed and two-time defending champion Bonita Vista (24-2) will play No. 2 Torrey Pines (21-2-1) at 5:30 p.m. at Hilltop High School.

Originally, both games were scheduled to be played at Torrey Pines. But when both teams from the school qualified for the championship games, the title site became an issue. Valhalla Coach George Logan agreed to play at Torrey Pines, but Bonita Vista Coach Ron Pietila balked. As a result, the girls’ game was moved.

“Torrey Pines has an awfully good facility, and that comes first,” Logan said. “The kids don’t hear the home support because they’re so busy. A couple of our boys went to see our girls play at Torrey Pines last week, and they were so taken with the field, they wanted to play there.”

According to Pietila, his decision was based more on principle than anything else. On Tuesday, his girls defeated Granite Hills in a semifinal game at Torrey Pines, after which they drove south to Hilltop to watch the Bonita Vista boys’ team.

Before leaving Torrey Pines, Pietila said he was informed by an official that the players and parents, having already paid admission once, wouldn’t have to pay again. But upon arriving at Hilltop, they were told they would have to pay admission. Pietila was left with some angry players and parents, and he said when informed that the choice of sites would be up to him, he couldn’t justify traveling to Torrey Pines again.

Torrey Pines girls’ coach Dennis Costello isn’t happy with the change.

“Now Bonita Vista has the home-field advantage,” he said. “They’re probably five minutes from Hilltop. When you get this far, it shouldn’t matter where you play. Look at the Chargers--if they had made the Super Bowl, would the site have been changed?”

Once the four teams finally take the fields, there should be two competitive soccer games. In the boys’ bracket, Valhalla has allowed just nine goals this season. With midfielders Brandon Sargent, Robbie Lott, Jason Miller, Jeff Lapinski and Toby Taitano, forwards Scott Hargrove and Derek Barry, and defenders David Kilpatrick, Randy Close, Derek Wiersma and Dan Richards, Logan--who has coached at Valhalla since 1974--says this is the best team in Valhalla’s history.

Torrey Pines finished second in the Palomar League, but is coming off a 1-0 semifinal upset of No. 2 seed and Palomar League champion San Dieguito. Midfielders Aaron Webb, Vince Bartolotta, Chris Davis, Jerry LeFlemme and Eli Vint and sweeper Kevin Russel ignite the Torrey Pines fast-break offense.

The girls’ championship figures to be a matchup of the Bonita Vista defense and Torrey Pines’ offense. Bonita Vista recorded an impressive 16 consecutive shutouts earlier this season. Laurie Christensen, who broke the San Diego Section career scoring record, leads the Barons in scoring with 33 goals (123 career).

Torrey Pines features a potent offense that has scored 90 goals this season. Leading the Falcons are Stephanie Case (18 goals), Danielle Napoli (14), Jodi Coffman (14) and Juli Osborn (10). The Torrey Pines defense is strong as well: The Falcons have a six-game shutout streak.