Sophomore middie Courtney Valdez scored a game-high six goals to lead Foothill-Orange County to a 20-18 victory over Beckman in a thrilling CIF-Southern Section game Friday night.

Senior attack Danielle Peralta added five points on three goals and two assists, senior attack Kayla Navarette finished with five points on two goals and three assists and senior middie Allison Languis scored three goals to help the Knights (1-0) win their season opener.

In defeat, junior middie Abby Messmer scored a team-high five goals, and UC Davis-bound senior attack Ashley Miller and junior middie Allie Lehner each scored four times for Beckman (0-2), which lost its second straight shootout.

The defensively-deficient Patriots dropped their season opener to Los Alamitos, 16-14.

Friday night’s game was tied, 11-11, at halftime. Beckman took its biggest lead of the night in the second half at 17-14, but the Patriots, who seem to be leaking like a sieve on defense this week, could not stop Foothill from scoring.

The Knights finished the game on a 6-1 run. Languis scored the go-ahead goal with about 2:30 remaining to give Foothill a 19-18 lead, and Peralta added an insurance goal in the final minute.

“People said it was the best high school lacrosse game they’ve ever seen in Orange County,” Foothill head coach Brian Cross said. “We never gave up, and we showed a lot of guts to come back.”