In Championship Rematch, Mustangs Fall 18-5 to Foothill

While the sport of lacrosse is relatively new to Southern California, it's pretty well known that Orange County is home to some of the area's most competitive teams.

On Saturday, Orange County's Foothill High took home its fifth championship trophy, topping Mira Costa 18-5, in the fifth U.S. Lacrosse Southern Section Championship. The game was played at Redondo Union High School.

“We got beat by a much better team," said Mustangs first-year head coach Chris Jewett. "We played hard in the end, but they are a much better team and showed it."

This year’s championship was a rematch of last year’s nail-biting 14-12 game in which the Mustangs were on the verge of claiming hardware for the first time outside of Foothill’s stronghold.

“I thought if we came out and battled we had a chance to win this game,” senior middie Tom Farrell said.

A balanced and explosive attack was too much for the usually strong Mustang defense as the Knights jumped out to a 13-2 lead in the first half, thanks in part to a domination of the draw.

Without Ryan Kole who won 76 percent of his faceoffs during the regular season, the Mustangs struggled to gain possession and were unable to hold off the Knights' precision attack.

“I think it was an immense part of the game," said Farrell. "If Ryan was 100 percent, I think at minimum if we win 45% of the draws, it would have been a close match."

Cameron Cole and Eric Adamson led the way for Foothill combining for five goals in the opening quarter.

“They are a really good backdoor group," said defenseman Cody Smith. "We got beat one on one a lot, too. Usually, we’re pretty solid in that area so that was surprising."

Trailing 5-0, with a defender attached to his side, senior Tajes Mobley bounced a shot past goalie Josh Giglio to get the Mustangs on the board with 2:11 remaining in the first.

Austin Hafdell would score one of his two goals of the game to open the second quarter, but that would be the only Mira Costa goal that quarter and before the first half horn went off, it was 13-2 in favor of Orange County’s finest.

“We came out in the beginning and had a couple opportunities to jump on them, didn’t execute and then they got a couple goals,” said Farrell.

Despite a valiant effort from seniors Farrell and Smith, who each scored in the third, the double-digit lead the Knights built would not be cracked.

Post-game comments from coaches and players alike revealed what many of the best teams in Orange County found out this season: there are no chinks in the Knights’ armor.

“They don’t make any mistakes," said Jewett. "Their stick skills are unbelievable. They are great athletes and have so many weapons on offense."

The Mustangs' potent offense, which could be found scoring more than 20 goals in a game during the regular season, appeared to not miss a beat in the playoffs, averaging 17 goals per contest in wins against Westlake, Agoura Hills and Palos Verdes.

It was not to be the case against the Knights, however, as they shut down possession and defended with an impressive combination of physical play and intensity.

“Their defense is great, but we just didn’t have the ball enough," said regular season scoring leader Chris O’Brien. "Our guys put up a huge fight on the wings, but they took advantage of every opportunity and just beat us straight up."

Cole led Foothill in scoring with five goals, followed by Adamson with four and Josh Peterman’s three.