By Clark Fahrenthold
UPDATED: May 15, 2025 at 6:03 AM PDT

Dating back to 2018, the CIF San Diego Section Open Division trophy has resided at Torrey Pines High School.

Under the watchful eye of coach Jono Zissi, the program has morphed from a perennial contender into a certified dynasty.

And with a convincing 11-5 win over Santa Fe Christian on Wednesday night, the Falcons punched their ticket to the CIF Open Division title game, granting themselves the opportunity to defend their title for the seventh consecutive season.

Torrey Pines will face off against rival La Costa Canyon in the Open Division title game on Saturday.

“They say getting to the top of the mountain is hard, but staying at the top is even harder,” said Torrey Pines coach Jono Zissi. “Santa Fe Christian played us great tonight, they played us physical. We played a really strong second half, thankfully, and we are just excited for Saturday.”

Torrey Pines was lead early by junior Ross Jacobsen. The Dartmouth university commit jump-started the Falcons’ attack with three goals in the game’s first 19 minutes. Helping Torrey Pines establish a 4-2 advantage with 5:29 to play in the first half.

Even with Jacobsen’s first-half hat trick, Santa Fe Christian kept things close. A late half goal from Jack Berg, and pair of saves from goalie Grayson Bruce in the final two minutes, made it a just a 4-3 Torrey Pines lead at the half.

“Ross has made himself through hard work, one of the best players in the state of California,” Zissi said. “Nobody works harder than Ross.”

Santa Fe Christian appeared to flip momentum after goals from Magnus Falkiewicz and Ted Coyle knotted things at 5-5 with 1:35 to play in the third. Torrey Pines quickly snuffed out that grab at momentum, thanks to the play of seniorcaptain John Prior. The West Point-bound Prior quickly handed the lead back to Torrey Pines with a driving wrister, making it a 7-6 game.

Forty seconds later, Prior would be on the attack once again. Rather than take a shot, Prior dished to Reid Habas, who connected from short range. Torrey Pines led 7-5 at the end of the third.

“We had to grit this win out, and I think it’s a true testament to how battle tested we are,” Prior said. “In transition, we were harping on it all week, to push and run these guys. On the assist, I just broke a guy, got to the middle of the field and saw my boy Reid Habas and had to flip it to him. He always cans those.”

The two late goals seemingly opened the floodgates for the Torrey Pines attack. In the final 12 minutes of action, the Falcons found the back of the net four more times. Prior and Habas capped their braces, while Brody Leonard and Harry Jacobson each connected for goals, sealing the six-goal victory.

Up next for the Falcons: A game against their archrival.

“LCC will be just as talented as us on Saturday,” Zissi said. “They have a bunch of seniors, so it ought to be a really good game.”