Girls lax: Cal Eliminated from NCS Playoffs

Foothill 8, California 6

Records: Foothill 15-7, California 13-8

The Star: Falcons' captain Maddie Saxtonknocked a ball into her own goal to tie the game for the Grizzlies, then drove down the field late in the game and scored the game-winning goal.

The Turning Point: Saxton's ability to forget her mistake that tied the game midway through the second half and to score the deciding goal in crunch time ultimately made the difference.

The Quote: "I think she scored the biggest goal I've ever seen. I've seen her play for four years, the biggest goal I've ever seen her score," California coach Scott Corso on Saxton's clutch goal.

Who's Next? Cal's season comes to an end.

The Bottom Line: The Foothill captain righted the ship and extended Foothill's season for at least one more game, while California's season ends on a tough note.

The California girls lacrosse team couldn't take advantage of a Foothill mistake, before Maddie Saxton scored the game-winning goal to end the Grizzlies' season with an 8-6 Foothill win on Friday.

Saxton attempted to take a swipe at the ball in front of the Foothill net to clear it up 6-5 midway through the second half, and although her stick didn't make full contact on the ball, it made enough for the ball to trickle into the Foothill net to tie the game at 6-6.

"It was pretty embarrassing, I've never done that before," Saxton said. "I wanted that goal (the game-winner) so badly."

Saxton switched off with teammate, midfielder Sarah Quero, so she could attack the goal and Saxton made up for her mistake by charging down the near sideline and hitting the back of the net with four minutes, five seconds left in game to put Foothill on top for good.

"I told her to stay behind (the 30-yard line) because I really, really needed to go over and get that goal … It felt really good," Saxton said.

The Falcons (15-7) held the Grizzlies (13-8) during the last five minutes of the match, keeping the ball within the California defensive zone and scoring the two final goals of the game. Junior Emily Klein put the game away for Foothill with a goal at the 2:03 mark.

"I thought we played really well, and then they played a better last 10 minutes than we did and that's what made the difference," said Grizzlies head coach Scott Corso. "We had some good offensive sets that they really played very well. They took our offensive plays away from us at times, and I think that was the big difference in the game."

Box score:

Foothill 8, California 6

California (13-8) 3 3 — 6
Foothill (15-7) 4 4 — 8

Scoring: California — Algieri, Alvey, Randall, Moore, Lorich 2. Foothill — Randel 4, Klein 2, Keiner, Saxton.

Saves: California – Castillo 8, Bach 1.

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