Torrey Pines vs Cathedral a Tale of Two Roccos
Torrey Pines vs Cathedral a Tale of Two Roccos
One of the big developments in Southern California's school-team seasons is the easing of the division between the SoCal Youth Rugby teams and the SCIRF teams, and that has led to a big game Tuesday night in the San Diego area.
SCIRF top teams Cathedral Catholic will take on top SoCal School League team Torrey Pines, a rivalry game that hasn't been played since February of 2020 when Cathedral won 38-33.
Cathedral is coming off a big win over Fallbrook pre-Christmas but perhaps their biggest claim to fame wasn't a win at all, but a tie. They tied the Australian Raptors touring side 12-12.
"It was a tough game," said Cathedral Head Coach Glenn Irvine. The Raptors scored in the corner and made the conversion to make it 12-5 with just a few minutes to play. But Cathedral worked their way down the field and scored. Sophomore Kingston Hawkins (son of former USA 7s team captain Matt) kicked the game-tying conversion with no time left.
So it was pretty dramatic.
"Obviously the Australian skill level was extremely high and their ability to play very fast was impressive," said Irvine. "It was a lesson not lost on us."
Torrey Pines, meanwhile, has had a similar start to the season with two (as opposed to one) big win and a very close one, that being their 15-12 win over Los Alamitos in December.
But two pivotal players at key positions might tell the story of this game and, just to make it even better for us, they have the same first name.
Rocco Balistreri is captain and inside center for Cathedral, while Rocco Pool is the flyhalf for Torrey Pines.
"Ive watched Rocco play since he was an under-10, and he's always been good," said Torrey Pines Head Coach Matty Sandoval about Pool. "But I never imagined he'd become this good. He's as good a #10 as we've had and we've been blessed with many excellent 10s."
Previous Torrey Pines flyhalves Jonty Lee and Riley Elliott were USA U18 selections, so, yes, TP has had their share of strong playmakers.
Key for Pool is that he also can identify holes in his game and work to fix them. Defensively he needed work and he came into this season ready to play strong defense. Pool scores tries, kicked the game-winner penalty to beat Los Al 15-12, and is emerging as an important leader for Torrey Pines as well.
"He's always on attack and puts more pressure on defenses than we've ever had," said Sandoval.
Balistreri, meanwhile, is a graduate of the IRANZ rugby academy in New Zealand and a Louisville University commit. He plays inside center because he's a powerful runner and thumping tackler, but with Hawkins at #10 being a sophomore, it's team captain Balistreri who takes on a more vocal role. It's a good partnership between the two.
"His tackling is second to none," said Cathedral's Irvine. "He combines that with being a very strong runner and an excellent leader. He's been a four-year starter for us and it shows."
Cathedral Catholic's Manchester Stadium hosts the game this evening, Jan 16.
