TUSTIN – The Foothill and Beckman boys lacrosse teams decided to save one of the best regular season games for last.
The matchup involved two of the top-ranked teams in Orange County, and it pitted childhood friends and teammates against one another.
The first 12 minutes of play lived up to the anticipation, but No. 1-ranked Foothill pulled away from No. 5 Beckman for a 17-10 victory Friday night in a nonleague game at Tustin High.
“It had a playoff feel,” Foothill coach Jon Fox said. “There were a lot of fans because of the lacrosse community out in Tustin and all the kids know each other growing up.”
While the players grew up together, all friendships were put aside once the ball was dropped on the first faceoff.
Beckman’s Alex Knox opened the scoring up with a goal at the 10:59 mark of the first quarter.
Foothill’s Ryan Falbo answered seconds later with a goal, and the teams went back and forth like that for the rest of the period. Nate Marano’s goal at the 1:06 mark of the period gave Foothill a 5-4 lead through the first 12 minutes of play.
A goal from Trevor Keene just a minute into the second period tied the game at 5, but Foothill (16-1) outscored Beckman, 5-1, from that point on, led by two more goals from Marano, to take a 10-6 lead into halftime.
Foothill’s Warren Case, who tied for game-high honors with five goals, said unselfishness was the key to the Knights’ ability to pull away.
“We were moving the ball a lot better” after the first quarter, Case said. “We were looking for the open guy and our defense really stepped up.”
Defense has been the strength for Foothill all season, and it held Beckman (15-3) to just four second-half goals to help close out the victory.
Knox led Beckman with five goals, while Marano added three goals for Foothill.
Contact the writer: dugland@ocregister.com
