San Diego Section Field Hockey : Fallbrook 86s Serra Streak in Shootout

It had to happen eventually.

After seven straight San Diego Section championships and 86 consecutive victories, Serra lost to Fallbrook, 2-1, after an overtime period and a shootout Saturday in the final at San Marcos High School.

Playing a team that had not lost in three years, Fallbrook’s players knew even a loss would not have been a disappointment.

“They thought they had nothing to lose,” Fallbrook Coach Kathy Yancey said. “But I think they also felt that Serra in the past year has been beatable and that they could be scored on.”

Fallbrook, which finished its season 15-3, scored in the second half when left wing Melissa McNutt made a goal off a pass from Shari Siegfried.

The score was tied at the end of regulation and the 10-minute overtime period. The section championship was decided on “strokes,” a method of tie-breaking similar to a shootout in soccer.

In the first round of five shots, each team made two goals, with McNutt and Christina Machado and scoring for Fallbrook. In the second round, Fallbrook again scored twice on shots by Siegfried and Machado, but Serra could get only one shot past goalkeeper Liz Cortes and the Conquistadors’ streak was over.

“They were ecstatic,” Yancey said of her team. “We came in third last year. Our goal this season was to get into the finals and win. And we did that.”