Warriors reach field hockey quarterfinals

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

Being in what might have been the toughest league in the county adversely affected the win-loss record of Fallbrook High School’s field hockey team, but the Warriors won their first-round CIF playoff game before losing to the top-seeded Division I team in the quarterfinals.

“Very pleased,” said Fallbrook coach Debbie Berg.

Fallbrook had a 1-9 record in Avocado League play. Torrey Pines and Poway shared the league championship with 9-1 records. Torrey Pines had an overall record of 18-5-1 and the Falcons were 16-3 against California teams. Poway was 22-4-1 overall. Torrey Pines won the CIF Open Division championship and was seeded second in that division while Poway was seeded fourth in the Open Division and reached the semifinals.

Mission Vista and San Marcos both had 4-6 league records to share third place while Valley Center was fifth in the standings with a 3-7 record in league competition. San Marcos, whose overall record was 9-13-2, had the top seed in the Division I playoffs and defeated Fallbrook in the quarterfinals before losing to fourth-seeded Valley Center in the semifinals.

Mission Vista had the fifth seed among Division I playoff teams and a quarterfinals loss to Valley Center gave the Timberwolves an overall record of 10-13. Valley Center won the Division I championship and, with the playoff results, the Jaguars were 18-7 overall for the season

“We were playing the top of D-I and Open teams throughout our entire league,” Berg said.

Torrey Pines was the only team to defeat the Warriors by more than two goals in league play. The Falcons defeated top-seeded La Costa Canyon in the Open Division final, and La Costa Canyon was the only opponent to defeat the Warriors by more than one goal in non-league competition.

“We were in every game, so I was pretty pleased with that,” Berg said.

“Our girls played tough in every single game,” Berg said. “They held their own in every game. There was not a single game we got blown out.”

Including the playoff loss, the Warriors were 1-10 against Avocado League schools. Their overall record of 8-14-1 equates to a 7-4-1 performance against all other opponents.

Fallbrook had seven shutouts during the season including a 0-0 tie against Glendora in tournament play Sept. 23, a 1-0 overtime victory Oct. 25 at San Marcos for the Warriors’ only league win, and a 1-0 triumph over Rancho Buena Vista in the first round of the CIF playoffs.

Fallbrook had three consecutive shutouts with a 1-0 win Sept. 7 at Rancho Buena Vista, a 4-0 triumph Sept. 12 at Del Norte, and a 4-0 victory Sept. 14 at home against Mira Mesa.

“We’re a defensive team,” Berg said.

Fallbrook was seeded eighth in the Division I playoffs and Rancho Buena Vista had the ninth seed, so the Longhorns traveled to Fallbrook for the first-round game Nov. 6. “It was a tough game and our girls rose to the occasion to move on to the quarterfinals,” Berg said of the 1-0 result.

San Marcos and Fallbrook split a pair of 1-0 games during league play with the Knights prevailing in the Oct. 6 matchup at Fallbrook. “They’re a great team,” Berg said.

Although the final score was 2-0 in San Marcos’ favor, both goals were scored in the second half. “It was very close,” Berg said. “We played really well, and it could have been either team moving on.”