TUSTIN – When Kaylee Navarette played her final lacrosse game in a Foothill uniform, she couldn’t see herself leaving the sport.
Five years later, she is the Knights’ coach and she has led her alma mater to the U.S. Lacrosse Southern California championship game.
Meridian Lee scored the winning goal 1:15 into the first overtime as Foothill defeated Beckman, 10-7, on Wednesday in the U.S. Lacrosse Orange County championship game at Tustin High.
“I knew that when I stepped off the field in 2010 that I was coming back and that we were going to win it again one day,” said Navarette, who started as a freshman for Foothill’s last championship team in 2007. “It feels awesome. We couldn’t ask any more from the girls.”
Carly Naud scored four goals, and Sophie Forester added a hat-trick for the Knights (21-3).
Foothill advances to face Redondo at Mira Costa High on Saturday. Redondo topped Oak Park, 13-12, in the Los Angeles final Wednesday.
The Knights looked to be in control in the first half. Foothill dominated possession behind its effort on the draws. Julia Taylor and Lee helped the Knights win 16 of 19 face-offs, keeping Beckman (17-6) from sustaining any momentum following its goals.
Foothill led, 4-2, at halftime.
Beckman’s Janice Shih scored to open the second half. Following a rare win on the draw, the junior cut across the middle from 8 yards out, received a pass from Kylie Filipek and deposited the ball into the back of the net to tie the score.
With 7:34 left, Taylor went coast-to-coast to give the Knights the lead, 7-6.
Beckman, which never led, struggled to get the possession back, but with 30 seconds remaining, Taylor Stern got a steal for the Patriots. She turned it up field, and the ball ended up on the stick of Michaela Kyte, who tied the score with 20 seconds to go.
Lee, Naud and Forester scored in a span of 38 seconds for Foothill in the first overtime.