New head coach Maultsby inherits young field hockey team

Not only is former Fallbrook High School field hockey player Melissa Maultsby new to the program as the Warriors' head coach, but most of Fallbrook's players this season are also new to high school field hockey.

"We're really young right now," said Maultsby. "That's only going to make us better in the future, building up that foundation."

The varsity and junior varsity squads have a total of 28 players, and 16 of those are freshmen.

"It's very different coming from junior high hockey," Maultsby said. "The rules for junior high school and high school are very different."

Maultsby was on Fallbrook's junior varsity squad in 2006 and 2007 and on the Warriors' varsity in 2008 and 2009. She also played four years for the University of Pacific field hockey team. Maultsby was the Vista High School coach in 2014 and 2015 before taking the Fallbrook position after Jeremiah Fuller stepped down as the Warriors' coach.

The 2015 Warriors had eight seniors and finished with an overall record of 13-11-1, including a first-round loss to Serra in the CIF Open Division playoffs. Only three of the 15 players on this year's Fallbrook varsity were on the team's varsity last year, although all 11 varsity players who are not freshmen were in the program during 2015.

The roster consists of seven seniors, two juniors, two sophomores, and four freshmen. The 13 junior varsity players Emily Kooyman coaches are comprised of one junior and 12 freshmen.

Maultsby opted to provide the Warriors with top-level competition as soon as possible. Fallbrook's season opener Sept. 1 at home was against Scripps Ranch, whose 2015 overall record was 22-4 with the final loss occurring in the CIF Open Division semifinals.

Scripps Ranch defeated Fallbrook 7-1 but the Warriors, after trailing 4-0 at halftime, had an improved performance in the second half. "They figured out what they needed to do," said Maultsby.

High school field hockey halves are 30 minutes, and with 13 minutes remaining in the game, the Falcons had a 7-0 lead. "We can't make up seven goals," Maultsby said.

Maultsby, varsity assistant coach Chelsee Brown, and the players set a more realistic objective – to shut down the Falcons from further scoring and to avoid being shut out.

"They did exactly that," said Maultsby. "We were able to kind of hold them off and put one point on (the scoreboard)."

April Paulson, who is one of Fallbrook's seniors, scored an unassisted goal with 10 minutes remaining.

Fallbrook's loss allowed the coaches and players to evaluate the needed improvement areas.

"It was pretty obvious," said Maultsby, noting that the young players needed to start thinking for themselves. "The girls know that and they're buying into it, which is great. That's what's ultimately going to make them better field hockey players. My job is to guide them."

The junior varsity teams had less of an experience differential, and Scripps Ranch won that game by a 1-0 score. "They're doing quite well so far this season," said Maultsby of the junior varsity.

Maultsby said both the varsity and JV squads are picking things up fast.

"They're learning really quickly, which is great," said Maultsby. "I have high hopes for the rest of the season."