Warriors share third in final field hockey league standings

Fallbrook High School's field hockey team shared third in the final Avocado West League standings.

The Warriors posted a 5-5 record during league competition, which matched Vista High School's win-loss figure. Fallbrook's final regular-season record was 11-12-1; although a penalty stroke shootout follows most games which are tied after regulation and field overtime, some tournaments end games as ties if the score is even after the conclusion of field play and the Warriors tied Poway in a Sept. 5 Otay Ranch Varsity Tournament game.

"I'm very happy. The girls absolutely worked as hard as possible. They really jelled as a team," said Fallbrook coach Jeremiah Fuller.

The CIF playoff selection and seeding meeting Nov. 11 gave the Warriors the second seed in the Division I playoffs. "They got to where they wanted to be," Fuller said. "The girls played hard. They earned where they're at."

La Costa Canyon won the Avocado West League championship with a 9-1 record while Rancho Buena Vista had the second-place mark of 8-2. La Costa Canyon and Rancho Buena Vista split their two matches, and the Longhorns' only other league loss was to Fallbrook. "The biggest accomplishments were beating our rivals Vista and Rancho Buena Vista, holding our own against a stronger team," Fuller said.

Fuller noted that as a coach the season highlights also included getting his team to work together. "The girls' work ethic was a big highlight," he said. "They jelled as a team to come together to do everything."

Fallbrook began league play Oct. 2 at home against Vista and lost a 2-1 match with the Panthers scoring the winning goal in the second overtime. A 2-0 home loss Oct. 7 against La Costa Canyon gave Fallbrook a league record of 0-2, but the Warriors won their other three games during the first round of league play.

Fallbrook's Oct. 9 home game against San Dieguito Academy ended with a 9-0 score in the Warriors' favor. On Oct. 14, the Warriors hosted Rancho Buena Vista; the game was tied at a goal apiece after the first half before the Warriors prevailed by a 3-2 margin. Fallbrook concluded the first round of league play Oct. 16 with a 1-0 win at Mission Vista.

The Warriors captured a 1-0 victory Oct. 26 at Vista to begin the second round of league play. La Costa Canyon hosted Fallbrook on Oct. 30 with the Mavericks prevailing in the 2-0 contest. Fallbrook traveled to San Dieguito Academy for a Nov. 4 game and returned with a 2-0 victory to improve the Warriors' league record to 5-3.

The first half of the Nov. 6 game at Rancho Buena Vista ended with the Longhorns holding a 2-0 lead. Fallbrook scored twice in the second half to create a tie when regulation ended. The Longhorns scored in overtime for a 3-2 victory. League play for the Warriors concluded Nov. 10 with a 3-1 home loss to Mission Vista.

"These girls don't have a sense of entitlement. They know they have to earn everything," Fuller said.

The Fallbrook team included eight seniors. "It will be exciting to see what the girls can do in college," Fuller said.