CHULA VISTA – It may have been the cold evening air, or possibly the wet turf at the Olympian High stadium. Whatever it was, it took the vaunted Torrey Pines girls soccer team more than an hour to get on the board against Rancho Bernardo in the Barons Tournament Premier Division final.

When the Falcons finally did warm up, they caught fire. The defending San Diego Section Division I champions poured in three goals in 10 minutes last night in a 3-1 victory and the tournament title.  “I told them at halftime, 'If we score one goal, we can get a bunch,' ” Torrey Pines head coach Dennis Costello said. “That first goal opened the door for us.”

Torrey Pines' first goal wasn't without controversy, though, as Broncos coach Raffi Ruotolo argued that at least two Falcons players were offside when Kylie McCarthy scored in the 63rd minute. A few minutes later, Ruotolo received a yellow card for arguing.  “Goals like that kill you,” Ruotolo said. “The momentum switched, and you see what happened. That was difficult to swallow.”  What happened is that McCarthy's goal opened the floodgates for the Torrey Pines offense.

Sophomore forward Alexandra Bailey slipped the ball underneath goalkeeper Keriann Nomura four minutes later to give the Falcons the lead. Bailey added her second goal of the match in the 73rd minute. The sophomore buried a header in the top left corner off a perfect cross from senior Chelsea Small.

It was Rancho Bernardo, however, that struck first.  Attempting to clear the ball from the box, Torrey Pines goalkeeper Annie Heaton kicked it directly to Broncos forward Cody Dantu, who fired it into the top right corner of the goal.  Heaton rebounded to shut out RB the rest of the match.  “It was a silly mistake by the keeper, but we still weren't scoring goals,” Costello said. “That was kind of a shock to the system.”  After managing just one shot on goal in the first half, the Falcons kept Nomura busy with six shots on goal in the second.

The Broncos were without injured starting striker Kelly Berg, who had two goals against Bishop's in the semifinals. Still, RB was competitive against soccer powerhouse Torrey Pines.  “Every time, we make it exciting,” Ruotolo said. “We get well-prepared to play them. You're playing a team that's the best in the county.”