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Warriors boys lacrosse team maturing

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

Last year, Fallbrook High School’s boys lacrosse team had a 5-9 season record including a 1-4 Valley League mark. This year, the Warriors began the season with a 9-2 record.

“The team last year was pretty young,” said Fallbrook co-coach Ryan Farish. “They’ve been able to mature for another year and develop, and it’s made a big difference.”

Due to the lack of a junior varsity team last year, the 2021 Warriors had 10 freshmen and eight sophomores on the varsity along with eight seniors. “We’ve been able to build on that,” Farish said.

This year the Warriors have five seniors. “It’s pretty young. A lot of sophomores,” Farish said.

The program has 25 players, so there is no formal junior varsity team. The squad includes 17 players with past varsity experience.

The compression of the 2020-21 seasons meant that the football and lacrosse seasons overlapped. The 2021-22 seasons were returned to normal. “It was nice to have the separation this year and be able to have an off-season,” Farish said.

Farish is originally from Buffalo and came to San Diego County on assignment from the United States Marine Corps. He played hockey but not lacrosse in high school. He was deployed when his oldest son, whose first name is also Ryan, was a Fallbrook High School freshman and took up lacrosse after being asked by a friend. “When I came back I got involved with the team,” Farish said.

Farish leveraged his hockey skills to assist with the lacrosse team. Farish, who has also coached football at Fallbrook High School for six years, is now in his fourth year with the lacrosse program. This year, Farish and Mike Zinniger are co-coaches.

The second of Farish’s children, Sean, is currently a Fallbrook High School junior and is one of four captains on the lacrosse team. John Downey, Cole Tender, and Jake Woodworth are the other three captains. Woodworth is currently leading the team in scoring.

Farish has three children, all boys. The youngest, Brendan, is in eighth grade at Mary Fay Pendleton Elementary School.

Both of the Warriors’ first two losses, as well as their fourth loss of the season, were to CIF Southern Section teams. Fallbrook’s second game of the season Feb. 28 was an 11-5 loss at Temecula Valley; a March 8 trip to Chaparral was a 17-8 Pumas victory, and a 10-8 home loss April 8 against Vista Murrieta gave the Warriors a 9-4 record.

Fallbrook also lost April 5 at Pacific Ridge. The Firebirds held a 6-1 lead at one point, but the final score was 13-11. “We made some adjustments,” Farish said. “We just couldn’t quite close it out.”

A 13-6 home win Feb. 22 against Linfield Christian opened Fallbrook’s season. Fallbrook’s March 4 home game against Point Loma was a 14-6 Warriors victory. Fallbrook then began a seven-game winning streak with a 27-4 triumph March 11 at home against Canyon Hills (which was Serra High School prior to that school’s rebranding), an 18-5 win March 15 at Del Lago, an 11-8 victory March 18 at University City, an 11-10 triumph March 22 at Valley Center, a 14-5 victory March 24 at Eastlake, a 10-2 win April 2 at home against Hilltop, and a 19-4 victory at Rancho Buena Vista.

“We’re doing pretty good,” Farish said. “Overall we’re having a pretty good season.”

Prior to the consecutive losses, Fallbrook was ranked first among CIF Division II teams.

The Valley League this year consists of Fallbrook, El Camino, Mission Hills, Rancho Buena Vista, Sage Creek, and San Dieguito Academy. The Warriors’ first league game is expected to take place April 26 at home against Mission Hills.

 

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