Warriors record four consecutive girls soccer shutouts

Fallbrook High School's girls soccer team lost a 2-1 game Jan. 18 against Mission Vista at Luz Duran Park in Vista to give Fallbrook a 2-1-1 Valley League record and an overall mark of 5-6-3. The two goals allowed to Mission Vista also ended Fallbrook's streak of four consecutive defensive shutouts, which was the Warriors' longest streak since Sergio Garcia became Fallbrook's head coach in fall 2016.

Fallbrook preceded Valley League play with a 1-0 home victory Jan. 4 against Oceanside, began league competition with 2-0 victories Jan. 9 at Escondido and Jan. 11 at Ramona, and played Valley Center to a scoreless tie Jan. 16 in Fallbrook.

"They were very solid on defense, and they're working well together," Garcia said.

Ironically Fallbrook's four consecutive shutouts during the 2015-16 season began with a Jan. 22 win over Valley Center and concluded with a Feb. 3 tie against Oceanside, which was in the Valley League at the time. Orange Glen was also a Valley League member that season, and the Warriors' streak ended with a 2-1 victory over the Patriots. Miguel Trejo was Fallbrook's varsity coach at the time and Garcia was the Warriors' junior varsity coach.

Garcia's current assistant coach is Adan Rojas. "We work well together," Garcia said. "He's part of the team's success."

Current sophomore Valerie Juarez, who was on the 2017-18 junior varsity, is this season's starting goalkeeper. "Valerie has done a great job as goalkeeper," Garcia said. "I'm very impressed with Valerie coming from no club experience."

Only one senior, sweeper Audrey Petersen, starts in a defensive position for the Warriors. "Audrey Petersen has been key in the back four," Garcia said.

The other three defenders are all sophomores: left defender Porsha Camilli, center defender (also referred to as a stopper) Delia Tapia, and right defender Judith Urbina.

Oceanside took a 2-2-2 season record into the Pirates' match at Fallbrook. "They're a very tough competitor this year," Garcia said. "We had a good opportunity and coming into the game we were confident in winning. As far as a shutout I would say no, not expected."

Juarez made six saves against Oceanside. Fallbrook's goal was scored by freshman Adriana Madrigal, who had an assist from sophomore Jade Kennedy. Fallbrook took 18 shots. Oceanside's goalkeeper saved three Fallbrook shots that Garcia expected to be Warriors goals, and he notes that Fallbrook's winning margin would have been greater had it not been for the performance of the Pirates' net minder.

The Warriors' league opener at Escondido, which entered the game with a 5-6-1 record, included four saves by Juarez and second-half goals by Urbina and senior Nikel Villa. "The team dominated the game and capitalized twice," Garcia said. "The defense stepped up to the plate when they were needed to deny any scoring opportunity for Escondido."

Ramona's league opener Jan. 9 was a 2-1 loss at Mission Vista, which gave the Bulldogs a 9-3-1 season record when they hosted Fallbrook. "They're a competitive team and they're going to come out aggressive and wanting to win," Garcia said.

All five of the Bulldogs' shots on goal were saved by Juarez. During the game's first 40 minutes of play, Kennedy and senior Karina Bulli placed shots past the Ramona goaltender.

"First half came out strong, scored two goals, still kept the back four, but then just kind of took the pedal off the gas the second half and gave some non-starters some playing time," Garcia said.

A total of 16 Fallbrook girls saw action against the Bulldogs.

The four consecutive shutouts in 2016 included two ties. Fallbrook had not obtained three consecutive shutout victories since December 2007 before this year's win over the Bulldogs.

Valley Center traveled to Fallbrook with a 5-1-5 overall record and a 1-0-1 mark in Valley League play. The scoreless tie was the fifth of the year for the Jaguars. "Valley Center denied some scoring opportunities. I think this year Valley Center is stepping up as the team to beat," Garcia said.

The Warriors took 14 shots against Valley Center. Juarez saved four of the Jaguars' shots.

The second round of league play includes a Feb. 1 match, weather permitting, at Valley Center. "Looking forward to playing them in their house," Garcia said.

Garcia would have preferred not to alter the defensive formation which was responsible for four consecutive shutouts, but right midfielder Hannah Diverde was in Hawaii on a family vacation Jan. 18 and could not play against Mission Vista that day. Peterson was moved to Diverde's midfield position. "We moved our back four line, and I think that was a big contributor to breaking that streak," Garcia said. "That kind of changed the dynamics and the chemistry."

Urbina was moved to the sweeper position Petersen normally plays. "She did well there. It was just moving Delia out of her position," Garcia said.

Tapia was moved to the attacking midfield position. Camilli took Tapia's normal position as the center defender. Garcia used freshman Ariana Cabrera as the Warriors' right defender against Mission Vista.

Diverde is also a senior, so next year the Warriors will be playing without both Diverde and Petersen. Placing Tapia and Urbina in new positions may have disrupted the team routines but gave them experience at those positions and the game in Vista gave Cabrera experience as a starter she can use in future seasons.

"It's said that you learn more from the losses than the wins," Garcia said. "All around we're a fairly young team."

Garcia noted that he and Rojas as well as the players learn from the losses.

"There's still the second round of the season," Garcia said.

"The first round is going well," Garcia said. "We're a young team, talented team. Looks bright for the future."