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Boys soccer finishes 4-3-3 in league

Fallbrook High School’s boys soccer team finished the regular season with a 10-6-7 record, including a 4-3-3 mark in Avocado League play which gave the Warriors third place in the conference standings.

“A little disappointing for us. We had higher expectations,” said Fallbrook coach Andy DeSouza.

DeSouza cited ties which could have been wins as well as a loss to El Camino. “We started off with a big win against Oceanside,” he said.

That 3-0 win at Oceanside began Avocado League play. The Warriors began the 2006-07 season with a 2-1 win over Torrey Pines at Torrey Pines, giving the Falcons their only regular-season loss. The Falcons later defeated Fallbrook in the semifinals of the Grossmont Tournament.

“The only times we felt we were outplayed were against Torrey Pines and Poway,” DeSouza said. “We had some disappointing games, some because we just couldn’t score.”

The Warriors had an 8-6-1 record on the road or at neutral fields while compiling a 2-0-6 record at home. “It was really hard to score on our field this year,” DeSouza said. “It was just super bumpy and just hard.”

Problems with the field would cost them a league win just when momentum was going the Warriors’ way. The Oceanside win was followed by a loss to Rancho Buena Vista, but the Warriors defeated Vista and Carlsbad in the first round of league play.

Then the Warriors had a rematch with Oceanside at Fallbrook. The game was scoreless at halftime, and when the stadium’s sprinklers were activated at halftime the game was called after only one half and recorded as a tie.

“It seems like ever since then we never got back on track,” DeSouza said.

The ties included one against Rancho Buena Vista in which the Warriors had a 3-0 lead but the Longhorns scored three goals in the final 15 minutes to salvage a 3-3 draw. “That would have been a big win,” said DeSouza.

Rancho Buena Vista would end up as the Avocado League champion. Oceanside finished second in the league standings.

Since semester grades are released in the middle of the winter sports seasons, soccer programs are often hit by academic ineligibilities. As a first-year high school head coach, DeSouza had no previous programs to keep his players eligible; yet the Warriors suffered no academic losses. “This year I just made a point of it to have them really focus on their grades. I did everything I could to help out, but it was all their hard work that got it,” DeSouza said.

DeSouza did lose some players to injuries for specific games, although no players had season-ending injuries. DeSouza carried 26 players on his varsity roster. “Everybody contributed at one point or another,” he said.

 

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