Shortly after seeing his team climb back on top of the local boys lacrosse kingdom, Foothill coach Jon Fox made it clear he had already moved on.
“Hey, one more to go,” he said amid the celebration that ensued after the Knights’ 12-8 victory against JSerra in the county title game on Wednesday.
That “one more” is today’s U.S. Lacrosse Southern Section championship game against Palos Verdes of Palos Verdes Estates at 1 p.m. at Huntington Beach High.
The Knights will try to close out what has been a dominant season. Foothill is 20-1, with its lone loss being by one goal, 14-13, against Torrey Pines, one of the better teams in the San Diego area.
Foothill’s average margin of victory is seven goals, and it has beaten every opponent in the postseason by four goals or more.
Foothill has plenty of offensive weapons capable of lighting up the scoreboard. Nate Marano recorded 81 goals, Nick Matzek tallied 44, Warren Case had 42 to go along with 46 assists and Kevin Kodzis had 28 scores.
“The team as a unit is playing well,” Kodzis said. “No individual play as much, it’s a team effort. That’s carried us all year long, and I hope it continues next game.”
Palos Verdes (13-8) is no stranger to Foothill. The Knights beat Palos Verdes, 12-5, in the regular season and they’ve beaten them twice before in the finals, in 2007 and 2008.
Those two titles were part of a five-year run of championships for Foothill that ended in 2011.
“Palos Verdes is a very athletic, physical team, with a great coach (Jimmy Borell),” Fox said. “They played a demanding schedule against many top teams this year and are peaking at just the right time.”
The Sea Kings are on a 13-2 run that includes them winning the North Division championship Wednesday with a victory over Oak Park, 9-6.
Contact the writer: amorales@ocregister.com
