Nine Warriors given all-league girls lacrosse honors

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

Nine members of Fallbrook High School’s girls lacrosse team were given all-league honors by the Valley league coaches.

The two Valley League first team players from Fallbrook, Zahra Hendrix and Cassie Ramirez, were both seniors. Three Fallbrook juniors – Erica Garcia, Bella Lopez, and Taylor Sanchez – were chosen for the all-league second team. Honorable mention designation was conferred upon senior Carly Hawkins, sophomores Shea Morgan and Myah Pack, and freshman Gianna Lindenmayer.

“It’s just a testament to how hard they’ve worked and how much we’ve grown over the last two or three seasons,” said Fallbrook coach Debbie Berg. “We’re just going in the right direction.”

This year Fallbrook had an overall record of 17-4 including a first-round win and a quarterfinals loss in the CIF Division II playoffs. The Warriors were 4-2 in Valley League play to place second in the standings.

Hendrix played both midfield and attacker for the Warriors. “I’ve coached Zahra since she’s been a sophomore, and she has been the backbone to our team for the last three years,” Berg said.

In 2021, the Valley League coaches also made Hendrix a first-team Valley League selection. The coronavirus outbreak ended the 2020 season prior to the start of league play, so there were no all-league teams when Hendrix was a sophomore.

“She’s also physically and mentally tough,” Berg said. “She’s a leader on the field and off the field.”

Ramirez, who played high defense, was given honorable mention accolades by the Valley League coaches last year. “Cassie is our workhorse. She’s our wall in the defense. She is a leader and orchestrates our defense and understands it,” Berg said.

“She’s just a talented player overall,” Berg said. “She has a physical and mental toughness beyond what I’ve ever seen in a player.”

Berg is also Fallbrook’s field hockey coach. Ramirez was also part of Fallbrook’s field hockey team. “She’s just as good at field hockey as she is at lacrosse. She can easily play both of these at the next level,” Berg said.

Field hockey and lacrosse are both club sports at Cal State San Marcos, which Ramirez will be attending for the 2022-23 academic year.

Garcia and Sanchez played midfield for the Warriors in 2022 while Lopez was both a midfielder and an attacker. Lopez was on last year’s Valley League second team.

Hawkins also played both the midfield and attack positions. Morgan and Lindenmayer played low defense. Pack is Fallbrook’s goalkeeper.

The four Fallbrook girls lacrosse players who received all-league honors in 2021 included one senior. Although Fallbrook will lose three all-league seniors and six seniors altogether from this year’s team, six of the nine all-league players are expected to return.

:”Our rising seniors are very talented in their own right,” Berg said of the six juniors on the 2022 team, including the three all-league players.

Another three of this year’s all-league players will be juniors or sophomores next year. “We have a strong base on which to grow the team,” Berg said.