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Depleted Warriors miss girls' soccer playoffs

By the end of the 2019-2020 season Fallbrook High School’s girls’ soccer team had a roster of 13 available players including some who had been called up from the junior varsity. The Warriors finished the season with a 1-6-3 Valley League record and a 4-12-3 overall mark; the Warriors did not receive a berth in the CIF Division II playoffs.

“We had injuries on both JV and varsity,” Fallbrook coach Sergio Garcia said. “Even then the girls played well.”

Fallbrook’s only league victory was Jan. 28 against Valley Center High School but, in the second round of league play, the Jaguars obtained a 2-2 tie Feb. 6 in Fallbrook.

“They scored in the last minute of the game,” Garcia said.

The Warriors’ Feb. 11 home loss against San Pasqual High School also had a deciding goal in the final minutes; the Golden Eagles scored for a 2-1 victory.

“We had to borrow JV players,” Garcia said.

Fallbrook was unable to field a junior varsity team against San Pasqual due to the lack of players.

Mission Vista High School does not have a home field with lights, so the Feb. 14 game between the Warriors and the Timberwolves was played at Rancho Buena Vista High School.

The varsity game between Fallbrook and Mission Vista included junior varsity call-ups.

“I had five true varsity players and six JV players,” Garcia said.

All three goals in the 2-1 Mission Vista victory were scored in the second half.

“We literally lost in the final seconds off a corner kick,” Garcia said.

The Jan. 23 game in Fallbrook was a 4-0 Timberwolves win. Mission Vista posted a 9-0-1 record in Valley League play to capture this season’s league championship, and the Timberwolves had a regular-season record of 13-2-3.

“We put up a good fight, very close to tying them,” Garcia said.

Ramona and Valley Center high schools played Feb. 13 in Valley Center. Ramona’s 3-1 win finalized the Bulldogs’ league record at 2-6-2 including a tie and a win against Fallbrook. Ramona thus salvaged fifth place in the six-team league standings while Fallbrook, which won last year’s league championship, finished at the bottom of the standings.

“The players we brought up from JV stepped it up,” Garcia said.

Garcia noted the aid of varsity assistant coach Adan Rojas in helping the new varsity players adjust.

“He’s a big part of the program,” Garcia said.

This year’s Fallbrook team had four seniors although Alexa Sanchez was the only senior starter.

“I’m looking forward to next year,” Garcia said.

Players from this season’s junior varsity team will likely join the returning varsity players on the 2020-2021 varsity.

“They had a good development year. I think JV played a pretty big part in the season,” Garcia said. “Next year we’ll have some JV players with some varsity experience.”

Joe Naiman can be reached by email at [email protected].

Author Bio

Joe Naiman, Writer

Joe Naiman has been writing for the Village News since 2001

 

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