Oceanside, CA — Varsity Game Recap 8/31 Varsity Pirates came out strong in the first half against the Fallbrook Warriors in Tuesday's game. Fallbrook is a Division 2 team that will be a contender for the Division 2 CIF Title. Almost right away, Pirates were able to put a point on the board with Sophomore, Blake Munoz, scoring a quick goal at 6:22. About a minute later, Warrior Brayden Bender was able to tie up the score at 5:13. Pirate Senior, Cody Lovgren, got caught behind on defense and was kicked out giving the Warriors a man up opportunity. Number 10, Kai Maestas, was able to convert this opportunity for the Warriors, to make the score 2-1 at 4:24. On the next defensive possession, Pirates found themselves down again, with Senior Tanner Armstrong taking an exclusion for the Pirates. Warriors did not score on this opportunity, but instead missed and received a back court ejection to give Pirates a man up opportunity. Pirates rushed their 6 on 5 offense and were not able to convert the opportunity into a goal. Warrior, Doug Pearce, scored on their next possession bringing the score to 3-1 with 2:06 left in the quarter. Pirate sophomore, Blake Munoz, found himself in position to score for the Pirates again late in the quarter. This goal brought the Pirates within 1 with only 1:30 left on the clock. Number 6, Jono Nelson for Fallbrook, answered quickly with a goal on their next possession taking the Warriors to a 4-2 lead over the Pirates. Pirates had a final 6 on 5 opportunity with :10 seconds left in the quarter, but were not able to convert it to a point. Moving into the second quarter, Warriors scored first, and began to pull away. Four more goals would be scored by Fallbrook to bring the score to 8-4 at the half. Pirates had two 6 on 5 opportunities this quarter, with one being converted into a point by Blake Munoz. Tanner Armstong also scored for the Pirates this quarter with only 1:10 left until the half. The second half of the game was dominated by the Warriors, with Pirates allowing them 4 penalty shots, and 3 man up opportunities. Lack of releasing on offense, bad passing, turn overs, and poor body positioning on defense allowed the Warriors to pull away from the Pirates. Two additional goals were scored by the Pirates in the final quarter of play. Senior, Logan Munoz, was able to sink a high corner shot on the Warrior goalie in the 4th quarter followed by another goal from Pirate Blake Munoz. In the fourth quarter, Pirate Adrian Alcocer was able to demonstrate great defensive positioning, resulting in a steal and a great example for his fellow teammates. Final score 19-6. Throughout this game, Pirates had 5 man up opportunities, and 8 steals. Thomas Kreissig had 3 steals for the Pirates, while Blake Munoz had 2, and Cody, Adrian, and Tanner each had 1. Man up opportunities were earned by Thomas, Blake, Cody, and Tanner. Goalie, Bo DuBois, had 20 blocks and 1 steal for the Pirates. Pirates struggled fundamentally with passing, releasing, and converting opportunities into goals. Pirates had 25 turnovers, 10 missed shots, and gave the Warriors 12 man up opportunities. As much as I enjoy winning, I am not at all disappointed with the result of this game, as everyone was able to play and it gave us a clear picture of what we will need to work on to compete in Division 2. Passing, releasing, moving with purpose, and communicating are going to be key as we move through the season.