Dramatic ending to Foothill's lacrosse win

SANTA ANA - Foothill's boys lacrosse team was pushed to the limit Thursday by Sea View League rival El Toro in the second round of the U.S. Lacrosse-Southern Section Orange County playoffs.

But the No. 2 seeded Knights survived the challenge at home. Junior attack man Taylor DeBerry scored a goal with three seconds left on an assist by Tucker Rowe to lift the Knights to an 8-7 victory over No. 7 El Toro.

Foothill (17-5), the two-time defending Southern California champion, advances into the semifinals Saturday at 4:30 p.m. against No. 3 Los Alamitos at San Clemente High.

"Nine times out of 10, it's going to be a one-goal game with these squads," Foothill coach Jon Fox said.

"The defense really played well today. We were able to shut down some of the shooters from the last time and that really made the difference."

The score was tied, 5-5, after three quarters. El Toro (14-4) moved ahead, 7-6, on a goal by Elliot Freerks with 4:35 left.

Foothill's Cooper Pickell tied the score, 7-7, on a goal with 3:52 remaining.

Foothill had chances to score on a man-advantage with one minute left, but El Toro goalie Nick Carrasco, who had 15 saves, turned back several challenges.

The Knights got possession with 25 seconds left and converted the game-winner.

"I had a shot, I called Tucker's name out," said DeBerry, who led Foothill with three goals. "I thought that we couldn't lose anything if he threw it to me. He threw it to me and I put it in."

El Toro made it tough for Foothill.

"We played excellent," El Toro coach Rich Knox said. "We did everything we needed to do and we were right where we wanted to be in this game, tied or up by one in the last quarter.

"A couple balls bounced the wrong way for us. But both teams played hard."

Nick Lioi led El Toro with three goals, and Chris Cole and Pickell added two goals each for Foothill.

In other boys playoff matches:

Corona del Mar 15, Mission Viejo 2: The top-seeded Sea Kings were led by Noah Molnar, who scored six goals and had two assists. Ryan Mix had four goals and Casey Bush three goals.

The Sea Kings meet Santa Margarita in the semifinals Saturday at 6:45 p.m. at San Clemente.

Santa Margarita 6, St. Margaret's 5 (OT):Jack Cranston scored a goal 50 seconds into overtime to lift the Eagles. Cranston and Justin Gabriel led Santa Margarita with two goals each. Mark Aghajanian led St. Margaret's with three goals.

Los Alamitos 15, Newport Harbor 5: The Griffins (19-1) broke the match open early, scoring six goals in the first period.

Contact the writer: tburt@ocregister.com