Warrior girls win Lady Vaquero Classic soccer tournament

Fallbrook High School's girls soccer team won the Dec. 17 to 21 Lady Vaquero Classic tournament.

"It was just a good feeling," said Fallbrook coach Miguel Trejo.

Trejo took over as Fallbrook's coach in 2012. In his first year, the Warriors won the Oceanside Southern California Classic tournament, and in 2013 and 2014 Fallbrook also played in the Oceanside tournament held between Christmas and New Year's.

"This year we took a different route," Trejo said.

The Warriors traveled to the other side of San Diego County for the Lady Vaquero Classic. Although the tournament took place earlier during Fallbrook's winter break, absences still limited Trejo's roster. "The tournament overall was tough," he said. "It was challenging in that aspect."

Fallbrook had 15 girls for the Dec. 17 pool play game, 14 players for the two Dec. 19 pool play matches, and 15 Warriors in uniform for the Dec. 21 final. "The girls were able to pull it off," Trejo said.

The Warriors played in two December 2015 tournaments. The team began its season with a pair of non-tournament 2-1 victories, Dec. 1 at home against Tahquitz High School of Hemet and Dec. 3 at Murrieta Valley.

Fallbrook then played three Barons Tournament games and concluded pool play with a 1-1-1 record. "When we had to finish opportunities we struggled with that," Trejo said.

The Warriors were in the Limited Division for the Barons Tournament and began play Dec. 5 with a 1-0 victory against Mount Carmel High School in a game played at Bonita Vista High School.

On Dec. 8, Fallbrook traveled to Christian High School for

a game against Christian. That trip to El Cajon was not as successful for the Warriors as the subsequent tournament's pool play games were; the Patriots took a 3-2 victory. "Against Christian we were playing on a really small field, so we had to make a lot of adjustments," Trejo said.

Mount Carmel was the host site Dec. 10 when Fallbrook and High Tech High of San Diego played to a 1-1 tie. Christian and High Tech High both had 1-0-2 records in pool play and advanced to the semifinals. "I wish we could have advanced, but you win some, you lose some," Trejo said.

Fallbrook sandwiched a Dec. 15 match at Escondido Charter between the Warriors' two tournaments and defeated the White Tigers by a 1-0 score. The Warriors were in the varsity bronze division for the Lady Vaquero Classic and contested their three pool play games on the El Cajon Valley High School field.

Fallbrook faced El Cajon Valley High School on Dec. 17 and prevailed by a 3-0 margin. The first of the Warriors' two Dec. 19 matches was a 7-1 victory over Morse. "We did very well," Trejo said. "We had to play smart because we had two games that day. I didn't want to overuse any player."

The second Dec. 19 contest was a 1-1 tie against Castle Park. The Trojans had defeated Morse but played El Cajon to a scoreless tie in their first Dec. 19 game, so Fallbrook had the best pool play record and advanced to the Dec. 21 final against Southwest High School of El Centro.

The Eagles had won all three of their pool play games by shutout, but in the tournament final Fallbrook was on the winning side of the blanking. "It went well," Trejo said.

The Warriors scored once in each half for a 2-0 victory. "Our midfield and our forwards were doing a good job," Trejo said.

The midfielders and forwards complemented Fallbrook's defense which gave the Warriors their second shutout of the tournament and fourth of the season. Lauren Reynolds and Precious Garcia have been Fallbrook's goalkeepers while the Warrior defenders were Anya Bell, Karina Bulli, Lilly Durbin, Callie Eidson, Lindsay Grant, and Audrey Petersen.

The Warriors, who shared fourth place in the 2014-15 Valley League final standings, begin 2015-16 Valley League competition Jan. 20 at Orange Glen. "A lot of our momentum that we have right now hopefully continues," Trejo said.