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| Poway 0 Rancho Bernardo 0 |
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POWAY – What amounted to a postseason tuneup for the Rancho Bernardo High boys soccer team became a test of survival for Poway's hope of making the playoffs.
In the end, after the Palomar League teams battled to a 0-0 tie in their regular-season finale, Rancho Bernardo (11-4-7, 5-1-4) had its sights set on winning a Division I title, while Poway (10-12-2, 1-8-1) crossed its fingers and hoped the solid showing against a title contender was enough to earn the Titans a trip to next week's playoffs.
"We play in the hardest league in Southern California," Poway coach Eugene Morris said. "I mean, every team in our league has been ranked. We were even ranked at the start."
Poway, which began the year 9-2-1, ended up with five losses by one goal and two others by two goals.
"The only time we got blown out was against these guys the first time," said Morris, whose squad lost to Rancho Bernardo 7-2 last month.
"You can see the improvement, and I actually thought we outplayed them a little bit. I'm just glad it ended in a tie."
On strength of schedule alone, Morris believes Poway deserves a trip to the postseason when the teams are announced this morning.
"A tie is good," he said. "It shows that we belong at this level.
"La Costa Canyon wins our league, and we lost to them twice 2-1. That's how tough our league is. I'm excited, I'm hopeful, I've got my fingers crossed."
According to Rancho Bernardo coach Evan Camperell, his squad's inability to score against Poway was a mere hiccup and nothing to be concerned about.
"It was just one of those nights, really," Camperell said.
Poway goalkeeper Tyler Dato tallied seven saves, the final three coming in the last 20 minutes as Rancho Bernardo applied pressure.
"We played physical with them and we got the job done," said Dato, a senior.
The goalkeeper also said his team deserves a shot at the playoffs.
"We showed here tonight that we can compete with the best teams in the county," Dato said. "With our strength of schedule, we should be in."
