Warrior sticksters reach finals of Serra Tournament

Fallbrook High School’s field hockey team reached the finals of the Serra Tournament before a 1-0 loss to Scripps Ranch in the October 3 championship match.

The Warriors won their previous five games in the Serra Tournament, which also included September 26 matches, and had a season record of 10-2 following the loss to Scripps Ranch.

Four Fallbrook players were selected to the all-tournament team. “The girls played great,” said Fallbrook coach Kathy Waite.

Four of the Warriors’ six games in the tournament were shutout wins. “I’m very pleased,” Waite said.

The Warriors opened the tournament with three September 26 pool play games. Fallbrook began pool play with a 2-1 win over Hilltop. “That was a well-fought game,” Waite said.

The Lancers scored the game’s first goal, but an unassisted goal by Lauren Hughey later in the first half tied the score at 1-1.

In the second half a corner play saw Christine Russell score the winning goal with assists from Hughey and Kyle Little.

Goalies Jahna Jordan and Andrea Gomez shared play in the nets as Fallbrook shut out its next two opponents.

A 2-0 win over La Costa Canyon included a goal by Melissa Maultsby with an assist from Little and a goal by Sarah Lopez assisted by Maultsby.

Fallbrook’s final September 26 game was a 3-0 win over Helix which included two Lopez goals and a score by Camila Lee.

None of Serra’s fields, including the main field hockey venue, have synthetic turf. “The conditions were horrible,” Waite said.

Hilltop traveled to Fallbrook for a non-league match September 29, and the Warriors produced a 5-1 victory.

“The girls played well. It wasn’t as close as the week before, which really surprised me. I thought it was going to be a close game,” Waite said.

Lopez had two goals in that game, Hughey and Little each had one goal and two assists, Russell had two assists, and Maultsby scored one goal.

“That’s great,” Waite said of having goals scored by four different players.

Four of the goals against Hilltop were off of corner plays. “Our corners are working well, so that’s a positive,” Waite said.

On October 1 the Warriors traveled to Scripps Ranch to face the Falcons. Scripps Ranch scored the only first-half goal, but in the second half Hughey evened the score with a goal before Maultsby scored the winning goal off a corner play with assists from Hughey and Little.

“While they outplayed us, we were able to get the ball in,” Waite said.

Jordan and Gomez made 16 saves against the Falcons. “The goalies were awesome,” Waite said.

Scripps Ranch had 16 penalty corner plays while Fallbrook had only six.

Fallbrook returned to Serra for the October 3 bracket play games. The Warriors advanced to the semifinals with a 1-0 win over Vista in which Little scored off a rebound of the Panther goalkeeper’s blocked shot.

The semifinal match against Serra was scoreless in regulation, so the teams went to strokes. When the game was still tied after five penalty strokes apiece, the Warriors and Conquistadors went to a sudden-death stroke shootout in which the Warriors prevailed.

Fallbrook played Scripps Ranch in the finals, and the Falcons scored late in the second half for a 1-0 victory.

The all-tournament team included Hughey, Jordan, Little, and Maultsby.

In a selection not directly related to the tournament, Little was elevated to the Futures Elite program which places her in the next level in Futures program camps.

The Warriors begin league play tomorrow when they host Torrey Pines. “We’ll do our best,” Waite said.