Warriors fourth in girls soccer standings, lose to RBV in playoffs

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

The 2021-22 season of Fallbrook High School’s girls soccer team ended Feb. 16 with a loss in the first round of the CIF Division III playoffs, finalizing the Warriors’ record at 7-8-3 including 4-4-2 in Valley League play which gave the Warriors fourth place in the standings.

“They had great games. They played really well,” said Fallbrook coach Nico Guerra. “I’m very, very happy for the performance, the quality of work that these young ladies put on the field.”

Fallbrook hosted Ramona in a league match, Jan. 26, and prevailed by a 3-2 margin to close out the first round of league play with a 2-2-1 Valley League record. Fallbrook traveled to Escondido High School for a Jan. 28 contest and returned home with a 1-0 victory.

Rancho Bernardo was undefeated in 10 league games, giving the Broncos the league championship. The Broncos’ wins included a 3-0 home triumph Feb. 2 against Fallbrook.

San Pasqual had a 6-2-2 league record for second place. Fallbrook played the Golden Eagles in Escondido Feb. 4, and the final score was 3-0 in San Pasqual’s favor.

Valley Center was 4-3-3 in league competition, edging the Warriors for third place by a single point (two points are given for a league win and one point is given for a tie). The Warriors and Jaguars each gained a point Feb. 9 in Valley Center when the game ended with a 2-2 score.

Fallbrook’s regular season concluded Feb. 11 at Ramona with a 2-1 win.

“I was really happy,” Guerra said of the Warriors’ league performance. “We won the games we were supposed to win.”

The Feb. 12 CIF playoff selection and seeding meeting gave Fallbrook the eighth seed in the Division III postseason while giving Rancho Buena Vista the ninth seed. The Longhorns traveled to Fallbrook for the playoff game. The two teams had played in a Dec. 21 non-league game at Fallbrook which was a 2-0 RBV victory.

The CIF playoff was a 1-0 RBV triumph. “It was a pretty even game,” Guerra said. “It could have gone either way.”

The Broncos scored the game’s only goal with about 10 minutes remaining.

“The girls did a great job. I’m very happy,” Guerra said.

Guerra had 15 players for the playoff game, limiting his ability to rest players. “I had only one senior on the field,” he said.

Fallbrook actually had five seniors on the team including backup goalkeeper Sara Ferreira, who did not play against RBV. Cassidy Boulanger played the first 20 minutes of the playoff game; she was recovering from a rolled ankle but the lingering injury prevented her from continuing. Paige Gartner was out of town. Brooklyn Van Nostram was previously injured. Adrianna Madrigal, who is a midfielder, was the only senior who played in the postseason after Boulanger was taken out of the game.

A majority of the players available Feb. 16 are freshmen or sophomores. “It was a pretty young team,” Guerra said.