Warrior girls reach SoCal High School Classic final

Fallbrook High School’s girls’ soccer team reached the Girls Premier Division final of the SoCal High School Classic tournament, Dec. 27-28.

The Warriors won two round-robin games Dec. 27, and since Fallbrook’s remaining round-robin opponent had also clinched a berth in the division final the third pool play game was canceled and the final was the only Dec. 28 match involving Fallbrook and Flintridge Prep High School of La Cañada.

Western Christian High School of Upland was Fallbrook’s first Dec. 27 opponent. The game in Fallbrook had a 5-1 final score in the Warriors’ favor. Fallbrook held a 2-0 halftime lead, and the Fighting Lancers’ lone goal was scored on a second-half penalty kick.

“That game was fairly comfortable for us. It was still a good match. We just put away our opportunities,” Fallbrook coach Sergio Garcia said. “I think our passing is coming together.”

The Warriors’ other Dec. 27 game was also at Fallbrook and was a 2-0 victory over Castle Park. “We defended well. We kept the shutout in that game and again put some passes together to find the back of the net,” Garcia said.

Fallbrook goalkeeper Valery Juarez recorded the shutout with the help of defenders Ariana Cabrera, Porsha Camilli, Panther Espinoza and Delia Tapia.

Flintridge Prep won both of the Rebels’ Dec. 27 games, so the Warriors and the Rebels played a single Dec. 28 game in Fallbrook. Four of the Warriors were injured the previous day and did not play Dec. 28, while a fifth was out of town for the Saturday game.

The five Fallbrook players who did not take the field Dec. 28 are all midfielders.

“All our midfielders were nonexistent that day,” Garcia said.

Vanessa Morales, Mika Humphreys, Galilea Medina and Jade Kennedy were injured. Alexa Sanchez was out of town.

“We made the decision to call up three players from the JV,” Garcia said.

Even with those three junior varsity call-ups the Warriors only had 14 players. The Rebels won by a 12-0 margin. Flintridge Prep sophomore Kylie Oh scored five goals against the Warriors while junior Makenna Dominguez, who scored twice against Castle Park and seven times against Western Christian in the Rebels’ Dec. 27 games, had three goals and five assists. The loss left Fallbrook with a season record of 2-6.

Garcia expects the four injured players to be healthy by Jan. 14, when contingent upon favorable weather conditions Valley League play begins including Fallbrook’s match against Escondido High School.

“I expect to have all of them back by the start of league,” Garcia said.

The 2019 tournament was the second consecutive SoCal High School Classic tournament in which Fallbrook reached the final. The 2018-19 Warriors won the season’s Valley League championship with a 7-1-2 league record.

“We take the tournament as preparation for league,” Garcia said.