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Shootout ends in Warriors' first field hockey loss

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

The undefeated field hockey season for the Fallbrook High School team came to an end Sept. 1 in the Warriors' third game of the season, but San Pasqual needed a tie breaking shootout to defeat the Warriors.

"We didn't expect to go undefeated," said Fallbrook coach Debbie Berg.

The Warriors improved their season record to 2-0 Aug. 25 with a 6-0 victory at Great Oak. Juniors accounted for all six goals and all three of the assists. The first goal was placed into the net by Erica Garcia; Taylor Sanchez scored the second and third goals, and Mallory Sehnert had the final three successful shots. Sehnert added an assist while Zoe Bejar had two assists.

Both of Fallbrook's goalies, sophomore Kacey Sanchez and junior Alex Farquhar, played in the shutout and made a save apiece. Sanchez was in the net for the first three quarters while Farquhar was the fourth-period goalkeeper. The starting defenders who contributed to the shutout consisted of senior Paulina Gonzalez, senior Emily Schmierer, and sophomore Hazel Rodriguez.

"Extremely pleased," Berg said.

The home game against San Pasqual had a 2-2 score at the end of regulation with sophomore Audrey Wilson and junior Lucy Loomis scoring the Fallbrook goals. That sent the game to the tie breaking shootout phase. San Pasqual scored on three of the five shots while Fallbrook scored twice. Sehnert and Taylor Sanchez scored in the shootout phase.

"It was a great game," Berg said. "They left everything out on the field."

Kacey Sanchez made 17 saves against Golden Eagles shots during field play as well as the two saves during the shootout. "Kacey had a tremendous game," Berg said. "She did a fabulous job."

The Fallbrook Union High School District COVID-19 policy includes a quarantine if a student is in the same classroom with a student who tests positive. If that student is also a field hockey player she cannot play or even practice with the team for seven to 10 days.

"I have yet to play a game with my entire team. In fact, I was missing two starters for my San Pasqual game," Berg said. "It's affecting our practice. It's affecting our game."

The coronavirus shutdown delayed the 2020-21 season, so there were no field hockey playoffs. Fallbrook won the CIF Division II championship in 2019, and this year the Warriors are in Division I. "It's great for our sport. It's great for our school," Berg said of the higher division.

All 20 Division I teams qualify for the post-season with the top eight participating in the Open Division playoffs and the rest being placed in the Division I playoffs. "We are probably near the bottom of D-I and near the top of D-II," Berg said.

The rankings which were used to determine Division I and Division II teams moved Fallbrook and San Marcos from Division II to Division I and switched Hilltop and Valley Center from Division I to Division II. The CIF transitioned from enrollment-based playoff divisions to divisions based on competitive balance in 2013 and uses rankings based on recent win-loss record, strength of schedule, and playoff wins.

Fallbrook is ranked 18th among the Division I teams while San Marcos is ranked 20th. San Pasqual is ranked sixth among the Division I teams.

 

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