Warrior water polo wins first three league matches

Fallbrook High School’s varsity boys water polo team won its first three Avocado East League matches.

The Warriors traveled to Palomar Community College for their October 4 league opener against Mission Hills and took a 15-3 victory, defeated San Pasqual by a 13-9 score at home October 5, and won a 15-7 contest October 6 against Escondido at Jim Stone Pool.

“They’re off to a good start,” said Fallbrook coach Bob Lamont.

The match against Mission Hills saw the Warriors on the front end of a 9-2 score after one period. Fallbrook led 13-2 at halftime. “They were pretty much in control of that game,” Lamont said.

Eight different Fallbrook players scored goals against the Grizzlies. Dane Oppenborn led the Warriors with four goals while Tyler Vanderstelt added three goals. Alec Carpenter and Zack Meyer each had four steals while Mike Maryn obtained three steals. Sam Rice led Fallbrook with three assists. Goalies Drew Ferguson and Matt Vaught each played one half and had four saves apiece.

“They did well,” Lamont said. “It was kind of a nice opener for the league play.”

The Warriors’ margin of victory over San Pasqual might have been greater had San Pasqual goalkeeper Stephen Neil not made 14 saves and added five steals. “We were very impressed with their goalie,” Lamont said.

Neil still had to contend with a Fallbrook team which had 27 shots on goal during the 28-minute game. The Warriors led 4-1 after the first quarter and 7-3 when the halftime buzzer sounded. The Golden Eagles narrowed the margin against the Fallbrook reserves and ended the third period on the short side of a 9-7 score before the Warriors secured victory during the final quarter.

Carpenter and Kort Heyneman each had four goals against San Pasqual. Heyneman also had seven steals. Rice had three assists against the Golden Eagles.

The game against Escondido was tied at three goals apiece after one period and at five goals each at halftime. The Warriors had a 10-6 lead after three quarters. “We kind of powered through the second half,” Lamont said.

Ferguson made a total of 13 saves against the Cougars. Heyneman led the team with seven steals while Carpenter added six steals. Escondido’s Mitchell McCollum scored one goal in the first period and one goal in the second period but was held scoreless in the second half. Kevin Carvelho put three balls into the net for the Cougars. “Those two guys we had to shut down defensively,” Lamont said. “When we did that we kind of came through to dominate the last half.”

Fallbrook’s scoring was led by Meyer, who placed five balls past Escondido’s goalie, and by Carpenter and Heyneman, each of whom scored three times. Rice, Maryn, and Heyneman each had two assists.

The Warriors’ first league loss took place October 12 against Vista at The Wave. The Panthers’ 22-10 victory saw Vista take an 11-3 halftime lead and hold a 14-6 cushion after three quarters.

“They’re a very good team,” Lamont said of Vista. “They may very well be the CIF champs.”

The Panthers took 32 shots on goal in the 28 minutes of play. Four Vista players scored at least four goals. Ferguson’s ten saves included a five-meter

penalty shot.

The loss gave Fallbrook a 3-1 Avocado League East record along with a 13-5 overall mark.

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