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Woods signs letter of intent with UOP

Fallbrook High School senior Lauren Woods has signed a letter of intent to play field hockey at the University of the Pacific.

“I’m really excited to go,” said Woods. “I’ve known since the beginning of high school that I’ve wanted to play college sports, so I get to do that and maybe one day I’ll be on the Olympic team.”

When Woods was in seventh grade at Zion Lutheran, the high school field hockey team came to her school to help coach physical education. “It just seemed like something fun to do,” Woods said.

Woods has been a goalie since seventh grade. She spent four years on the Fallbrook High School varsity. “She was my first player who was on varsity as a freshman,” said Fallbrook coach Kathy Waite.

By her senior year she was the Warriors’ team captain. “She really had to focus with this group and stay with them and help motivate them,” Waite said. “She set a goal and achieved it.”

Preventing a few goals earned her all-CIF honors. In her senior season she stopped 223 of 239 shots in the regular season and stopped 20 of 32 strokes in which a shooter faces only the goalie. She added 22 saves in the playoffs, giving her 245 saves out of 266 shots for the year.

Woods not only earned first-team all-CIF honors for the 2006 season but was also the Avocado League’s Player of the Year as well as a first-team all-league selection. As a junior Woods also earned first-team all-CIF and all-league honors. Woods earned second-team all-league honors for her sophomore season.

“She’s ready. She’s college material,” Waite said. “I’m excited to watch her play there and look forward to how well she’ll do for them.”

Woods also earned a berth in the 2006 National Field Hockey Indoor Tournament, and she participated in the outdoor 2005 and 2006 national tournaments. The local indoor league is primarily a developmental activity, so as a senior Woods did not participate in the most recent indoor league or the 2007 National Field Hockey Indoor Tournament. She will seek a third trip to the under-19 outdoor national tournament; the regional Futures tournament held in May will determine the regional team’s national tournament participants.

Woods has also played in the Cal Cup and the Field Hockey Festival.

Woods is also a midfielder on Fallbrook High School’s lacrosse team. She was on the junior varsity lacrosse team as a freshman and has been on the Warrior varsity since her sophomore year.

“I like lacrosse because I don’t have to play goalie,” Woods said. “It’s kind of a mental break.”

Woods plans to play club lacrosse at the University of the Pacific. “I’m excited about that,” she said.

The opportunity to play lacrosse in addition to field hockey was one reason she chose Pacific over Wake Forest and Old Dominion; the scholarship offer at Pacific was another factor. Woods also took advantage of the sports science major at Pacific; she hopes to become a field hockey coach in the future.

Her father is currently stationed at Camp Pendleton, and Woods moved from Twenty-Nine Palms to Fallbrook six years ago. Woods, who was born in Honolulu, spent sixth through eighth grade at Zion Lutheran Middle School.

The Warriors reached the CIF field hockey finals in 2005 and the semifinals in 2006. “We didn’t get quite as far as last year, but we had a good team,” Woods said.

That 2005 team included Brianna Cummins and Kristin Bardeen, both of whom accepted offers to play field hockey at Pacific. The UOP players also include former Warrior Melody Demel. “Hopefully we’ll pick up a couple from Fallbrook next year,” Woods said.

“It just shows a lot about Kathy Waite and the field hockey program at Fallbrook,” Woods said about three other former Warriors playing for UOP. “We’re a known school where you can recruit from.”

 

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