Warrior girls begin league soccer season with loss and tie

Last year Fallbrook High School's girls' soccer team won the Valley League championship; Ramona High School finished fourth in the league standings but won the CIF Division IV championship, and Escondido High School was last in the six-team standings despite winning two games. This year Fallbrook began play by losing a 1-0 match against Escondido and playing Ramona to a 1-1 tie.

"It seems to be a fairly close league," Fallbrook coach Sergio Garcia said.

Five of the six Valley League games during the first week of the league season were decided by one goal with the Fallbrook-Ramona tie constituting the exception.

The only score in the Warriors' Jan. 14 home game against Escondido was in the final five minutes when the Cougars scored on a corner kick.

"It was a great play," Garcia said. "We had our opportunities. They just put that corner kick past us."

Contingent upon suitable weather, Fallbrook's league game at Escondido will take place Jan. 30.

"Looking forward to going over there and getting the win there to give us another shot," Garcia said.

Fallbrook had a 2-1-1 record to begin league play last year before the Warriors won their final game of the first round and then posted a 4-0-1 mark during the second half of league competition.

"I think we've got a good opportunity," Garcia said of winning this year's league title.

The blemish in the second half of the season was a 1-1 tie at home against Ramona. This year's Jan. 16 game in Fallbrook was also a 1-1 tie between Fallbrook and Ramona.

"That was quite a battle," Garcia said.

The game was scoreless at halftime and the Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead with a goal scored from a corner kick. During the second half a scuffle between the two teams included retaliation by a Ramona player in clear view of the referee, who issued a red card ejection.

Not only is a player issued a red card removed from the rest of the game, but the team cannot replace her, so Ramona had 10 players on the field compared to Fallbrook's 11.

That gave Fallbrook somewhat of an advantage, as the Warriors had two players removed from the game due to injury and four others including three midfielders whose injuries kept them out of the game entirely.

Garcia called up two players from the junior varsity, so the Warriors began the game with 13 players.

"We had a couple of injuries in that game so we ended up with zero on the bench," Garcia said.

Midfielders Jocelyn Gamino, Jade Kennedy and Vanessa Morales did not play at all and defender Porsha Camilli also missed the entirety of the game. Injuries during play removed defender Ariana Cabrera and forward Adriana Madrigal from the pitch.

The Warriors also lost goalkeeper Valery Juarez when her family moved to Vista and Juarez transferred to Vista High School. Sophomore goalkeeper Sara Ferreira was called up from the junior varsity.

Ferreira allowed one goal in each of the Warriors' first two league games, both of those were from corner kicks. She also allowed a goal in each of her first two games which concluded pre-league play; the Warriors won a 3-1 game Jan. 8 at Oceanside and a 2-1 home contest Jan. 11 against Central High School of El Centro.

"She's stepped it up," Garcia said.

Ramona's 1-0 lead held until the final minute of play when Alexa Sanchez played a through ball to Galilea Medina. Medina's goal created the tie.

"She had a great shot past the goalie," Garcia said.

Unless weather dictates otherwise, the game between the Warriors and Bulldogs in Ramona will take place Feb. 4.

"We're confident we can get the win with our injured players back," Garcia said.

The tie gave Fallbrook a 4-7-1 overall record and a league figure of 0-1-1.

"We have an uphill battle," Garcia said. "Hopefully we get those starting players back from injury."