SD Prep Sports

SD Prep Sports: Water Polo

San Diego Section Division I playoffs

Warriors hope to continue advancing

Fallbrook fast-breaks past Eastlake 17-9 in first round encounter

By Phillip Brents

CHULA VISTA, Nov. 14, 2002 -- The quarterfinal round of the San Diego Section playoffs is considered the breakoff point that separates teams that "have it" from those "have not" teams. For the second consecutive season in Fallbrook coach Scott Forest's tenure at the varsity level, the Warriors have advanced to the quarterfinal round. This time, they would like to join the ranks of the teams that "have it."

"I needed to teach team defense. I think we've played it over the season," said Forest after Fallbrook's 17-9 first-round playoff win against Eastlake at Southwestern College. "Another goal I had for the team was to get the guys to mesh. They didn't play as a full squad during the offseason. Now we're starting to jell."

The fifth-seeded Warriors, who improved to 17-13 with the win, will next face fourth-seeded Valhalla (23-8) in Saturday's quarterfinals at La Jolla High School. The winner advances to the Division I semifinals. Game time is 2:45 p.m.

Valhalla previously posted a 13-7 win against Fallbrook in the opening rounds of the San Diego Open tournament. The tourney-host Norsemen finished third after a one-goal loss in the semifinals to eventual second-place finisher La Jolla; the Warriors finished sixth following an 8-6 loss against Los Altos.

"If we play controlled and play our game, I think we're as good as anyone in the county in Division I," Forest said.

Matt Shafer, who is closing in on 90 goals scored this season and earned all-tournament selection in the San Diego Open tournament, had five goals in the first-round victory against 12th-seeded Eastlake (12-7). Matt Ender and Dusty Urquhart both had four goals for the Warriors while Greg Goble scored twice. Contributing single goals were Cory Ender and Tony Rufkhar.

Fallbrook scored the opening three goals of the game and never trailed, though Eastlake rallied on several occasions to hang close in the first half, trailing their Avocado League adversaries by two-goal margins on three occasions.

The Titans cutting the deficit to two goals twice in the opening stages of the second quarter at 5-3 and 6-4. However, the Warriors managed to answer each Eastlake goal with one (or two) of their own before finally pulling away with the last three goals of the first half -- one each by Scott Ender, Dusty Urquhart and Matt Shafter -- to lead 11-5.

After the Titans scored on a power play to trim the Fallbrook lead to 11-6 to open the third period, the Warriors reeled off a pair of unanswered goals (one each by Cory Ender and Shafer) to move out in front by a 13-6 score. After a goal by Eastlake senior Alex Howell (his third of the contest), Fallbrook ended the quarter with three consecutive goals (singles by Cory Ender, Matt Ender and Urquhart) to lead 16-7 heading into the final period.

Warriors junior goalie Kuntal Patel did his best imitation of a vacuum cleaner with a game-high 17 saves. He was particularly adept at stopping long-range shots but relied on his quick arm reflexes to deflect point-blank shots as well.

Titan junior goalie Dain Laverty, a first-year performer in the cage, had eight saves by contrast (though he faced many more point-blank shots than did Patel).

"He's filled a big spot for us," Fallbrook's Forest said of Patel. "He played freshman and then junior varsity as a sophomore. He's got a lot of experience. He played year-round for my club team. For a goalie, that's what it is all about -- experience."

The Warriors are excelling despite possessing just four returning starters and only three seniors total on the team. Shafer (two-meter set), drivers Urquhart and Scott Ender and two-meter guard Greg Goble are the team's returning starters. Shafer and Urquhart are both seniors; Ender and Goble are both juniors.

Besides Patel, other players who have stepped into starting assignments this season include junior Luke Shafer and Cory Ender, both junior drivers. A pair of juniors, Tony Rufkhar and Kyle Krenz, have been among the first off the bench in rotation duty, Forest said.

For Eastlake, first-year coach Lonny Wood had to be pleased with his team's performance. After yielding the first three goals of the game, the Titans fought back with some resilience to trail 4-2 at the end of the opening period.

Senior Nik Clair-Williams -- the Metro Conference's all-time scoring leader -- ended his four-year career with 368 goals to rank among the section's elite in that category. He had three goals against the Warriors to match teammate Howell. Jonathan Alvarez and Peter Silva had the other Titan goals.

"It felt really good to get into the tournament. After we knew we were in and the kind of competition we would be up against, we tried to mentally prepare for that. We knew the competition would be tough," Wood said. "We had a lot of shots. It was frustrating seeing them go down the middle to their goalie. (But) they never gave up. They kept setting goals for themselves every quarter and worked hard to achieve those goals."

Fallbrook finished third in the Avocado League with a 6-4 record behind regular season champion Mt. Carmel (10-0) and runner-up Carlsbad (8-2). Eastlake (5-1) finished second to Bonita Vista (6-0) in first-round league play but defeated the 16-time league champion Barons 13-10 in the season-ending conference tournament championship game to earn a playoff berth.

Fallbrook Warriors -- Avocado League, third place