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  • Foothill's Nate Marano, right, controls the ball with pressure from...

    Foothill's Nate Marano, right, controls the ball with pressure from Great Oak's Weston Gotuzzo in the USL-SS playoffs at Tustin High School on Thursday.

  • Foothill's Warren Case takes a shot on goal against Great...

    Foothill's Warren Case takes a shot on goal against Great Oak in the USL-SS playoffs at Tustin High School on Thursday.

  • Foothill's Kevin Kodzis, left, gets pressured by Great Oak's Nathan...

    Foothill's Kevin Kodzis, left, gets pressured by Great Oak's Nathan Stutzman in the USL-SS playoffs at Tustin High School on Thursday.

  • Foothill's Austin Babb, center, runs the ball into the offensive...

    Foothill's Austin Babb, center, runs the ball into the offensive zone against Great Oak's Ryan Chamberlain, left, in the USL-SS playoffs at Tustin High School on Thursday.

  • Foothill's Ryan Falbo, left-center, and Nate Marano celebrate a goal...

    Foothill's Ryan Falbo, left-center, and Nate Marano celebrate a goal against Great Oak in the USL-SS playoffs at Tustin High School on Thursday.

  • Foothill's Chris Skillman controls the ball against Great Oak in...

    Foothill's Chris Skillman controls the ball against Great Oak in the USL-SS playoffs at Tustin High School on Thursday.

  • Foothill's Ryan Blank, left, and Great Oak's Ryan Chamberlain prepare...

    Foothill's Ryan Blank, left, and Great Oak's Ryan Chamberlain prepare to take the face off in the USL-SS playoffs at Tustin High School on Thursday.

  • Foothill players have a pregame huddle before the start of...

    Foothill players have a pregame huddle before the start of their USL-SS playoff match against Great Oak at Tustin High School on Thursday.

  • Foothill's goalie Ryan Blank passes the ball against Great Oak...

    Foothill's goalie Ryan Blank passes the ball against Great Oak in the USL-SS playoffs at Tustin High School on Thursday.

  • Foothill's Ryan Falbo releases a shot against Great Oak in...

    Foothill's Ryan Falbo releases a shot against Great Oak in the USL-SS playoffs at Tustin High School on Thursday.

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TUSTIN After No. 1 Foothill defeated No. 8 Great Oak of Temecula in a boys U.S. Lacrosse Southern Section South Division second-round playoff game Thursday night, Knights coach Jon Fox was curious as to how many goals Nate Marano scored.

When the heard the answer of eight, Fox laughed and mentioned Foothill might’ve lost that game if it weren’t for his junior attacker.

Luckily for Fox and Foothill, Marano was on as usual, helping the Knights reach the semifinals with a win over Great Oak, 18-11, at Tustin High.

Foothill (18-1) moves on to play No. 4 San Clemente on Saturday at Laguna Hills High while riding a 13-game winning streak.

The Knights didn’t start out as well as they probably wanted to, falling behind Great Oak 4-2 after the first quarter, and Fox said Foothill was looking for its find its footing.

“Every game is a puzzle,” he said. “You’ve got to figure out a solution because every team is different.”

The solution wasn’t too difficult to find for the Knights as they found their groove in the second quarter.

Foothill opened the period on an 8-0 run to take a 10-4 lead on a goal from Matt Harris with 4:11 to play in the first half.

The Knights outscored Great Oak (16-3), 8-2, in the second to take a 10-6 lead into halftime.

Fox said Foothill was able to adjust to the different style of play that the Wolfpack brought to the table.

“They’re a very physical team,” he said. “They’re great athletically and it kind of tied us up. They play a different style. We had to get used to it and find the right fit.”

Foothill kept it rolling in the second half offensively as Marano opened the third quarter with three goals to give the Knights a 13-7 lead at the 6:10 mark of the period.

The defense tightened up as well with senior Hank Lewis getting the nod at goal keeper in the second half.

Lewis made six saves in the half and Great Oak scored just five times in the final 24 minutes of the game.

“Coming off the bench is tough to do,” Fox said of Lewis. “Once he got in his groove, he was solid down the stretch.”

In addition to Marano’s eight goals, both Warren Case and Nick Matzek scored three. Ryan Falbo and Kevin Kodzis also scored for the Knights.

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