Lax: Titans repeat as Open Division champions

Poway High sophomore Kellan Cutting stands 5 feet, 9 inches tall. The Titans’ lacrosse goalie weighs 170. Yet when he stands in front of the net, Cutting looms larger than Shaquille O’Neal.

Cutting stopped 15 shots, including a point-blank salvo with about 15 seconds to play, leading the Titans to a 7-6 Open Division championship game victory over rival Torrey Pines on Saturday night at Granite Hills High.

It was Poway’s second straight section title, both by one goal, both at the expense of Torrey Pines.

“I wouldn’t want to win more against anybody else,” said Poway senior Jake Fiske. “It’s just that deep rivalry. We’ve been going at it my entire high school career. Every game with them is just a street fight.”

Late in the 2015 season, Poway coach Zack Burke made a change at goalie, inserting Cutting, then a freshman.

“I woke up in the middle of the night and decided that’s what we we had to do,” said Burke.

In Burke’s words, Cutting got “lit up” in his first start, an 11-10 loss. Three games later, in the section semis against Coronado, Burke inserted Cutting again and the Titans wound up celebrating their first section title since 2002.

He was nails Saturday, many of his saves coming from tight range.

“He’s a Division I goalie. Someone should pick him up after this game,” Burke said.

“Send him to Maryland!” hollered one of the goalie’s teammates, referring to the Division I college power.

“He’s so clutch,” said Poway defender Chase Crawford. “What else can you ask for?”

Poway scored the game’s first three goals and led 5-2 at the half. Torrey Pines rallied in the third period, finding the net three times in 2 minutes, 36 seconds to tie the game.

The Titans, though, scored two man-advantage goals to assume a 7-5 lead after three periods. Torrey Pines’ Ara Suhadoknik cut the deficit to 7-6 on his third goal of the game with 7:34 to play.

With 47 seconds remaining, Poway drew a penalty and the Titans had a man advantage. Ten seconds later, Poway was penalized for an illegal substitution and the Falcons had a two-man edge.

But Cutting swallowed up a shot from 10 yards out, fed a wide open Fiske, who ran out the final seconds before flinging the ball skyward. Brad Belasco and Zach Hodge led Poway’s attack with two goals each.

For Torrey Pines, the loss was heartbreaking. The Falcons (19-3) earned the playoffs’ No. 1 seed, only to suffer another title-game loss against the second-seeded Titans (18-3). Torrey Pines beat Poway 8-4 in the regular season.

“This is the best group I’ve worked with,” said Falcons coach Jono Zissi, who concluded his sixth season as head coach. “They’ve done everything they’re supposed to do, and I thought they’d win. I just thought they deserved to win.”

Norcross is a freelance writer.