Foothill adds some drama to this championship

PLACENTIA - Foothill's boys lacrosse team had some anxious moments in the final minutes Friday night.

But the Knights came through when they had to down the stretch to defeat Mira Costa of Manhattan Beach, 14-12, in the U.S. Lacrosse Division I Southern California finals at Valencia High.

"This is so sweet," Foothill coach Jon Fox said. "I'm really proud of these guys, they love playing lacrosse and they went all out tonight."

Click here to see photos from the Southern California championship games.

It marks the fourth consecutive Southern California title for Foothill, which earlier this week won its fourth straight Orange County title.

"It was a real battle, they're a good team," Fox said of Mira Costa (17-4). "They take you out of your team game. You just got to play it one-on-one, and finally our guys came through. We were missing a few shots. It was a great battle. That team really played great."

Foothill (18-4) moved ahead, 13-12, on a goal by Cooper Pickell with 1:28 remaining.

"That was a clutch goal. He owed us," Fox said. "He had been hitting the pipe all night. That was big and the ball just bounced our way."

"It was a garbage goal, pretty much," said Pickell, who was also on Foothill's CIF boys basketball championship team. "One of our players was driving and there was a loose ball. I just kind of got in the right place at the right time and finished it."

The Knights got the ball back and Cameron Cole scored with 12.9 seconds for the final margin.

Pickell scored four goals to lead Foothill. Tayor DeBerry added three goals, Eric Adamson and Josh Peterman scored two goals each for Foothill.

Foothill held a 10-6 lead in the third quarter, but Mira Costa battled back, tying the match twice in the fourth quarter.

Dakota Randall and Mitchell Hymowitz led the Mustangs with three goals each. Tony Gibbs had 10 saves for Mira Costa.

Mira Costa put up quite a battle, but in the end Foothill was able to make the big plays.

Senior goalie Nathan Kleponis had 13 saves, including some key stops in the second half. He celebrated his fourth Southern California title with the Knights.

"This is the best one yet," Kleponis said. "This is amazing, ever since my freshman year I was thinking this was a possibility, and now it's actually happened."

Foothill led, 5-3, after one quarter and 8-5 at halftime.

The two championship games at Valencia attracted a crowd of 2,342.