Foothill-OC Wins 3rd Straight CIF-Southern Section Title

By Michael Carnow
WSL California Correspondent

MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. – Philadelphia may be known for its brotherly love, but on Friday night brothers Chris and Cameron Cole provided all the love Foothill-Orange County needed to win its third consecutive CIF-Southern Section championship.

The duo combined for 10 points on six goals and four assists to lead the Knights to a 10-7 victory over Loyola-Los Angeles at Mira Costa High School.

Senior middie Chris Cole finished with a game-high six points on two goals and four assists, and sophomore attackman Cameron Cole scored four goals.

“Cameron and I have been playing together for about six years now, starting back in the seventh grade when we played a game called ‘tree bark’ in our backyard,” Chris Cole said. “Whenever I’m out on the field, though, I just know where Cameron is. It’s like a twin connection, even though we aren’t twins. I guess you could say it’s more like a brotherly instinct.”

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Sophomore middie Cooper Pickell added four points on three goals and one assist, and senior middie James Song had one goal to help Foothill (21-5) finish the season on a seven-game winning streak. The Knights continued their run of being the program to ever win the Southern Section championship.

“The three-peat is a huge deal for the team, but anything less than this we would have considered to be a disappointment,” Cameron Cole said. “I love playing with Chris. I just always know where he is on the field, even when I’m not looking. But this was a team win, so without him and the help from our other middies, I wouldn’t even have had the opportunities that I did.”

The Knights took advantage of the Cubs’ penalties, scoring on all six man-up opportunities, and Foothill used an early six-goal run to take control.

Defensively, Knights’ junior goalie Nathan Kleponis saved 10 shots.

In a losing effort, senior middie Nick MacCormack scored a team-high three goals, senior middie Andy Kurstin added three points on two goals and one assist, and senior attackman Peter Willets and senior attackman Zach Rodriguez both had one goal for Loyola (16-1), which suffered its only loss of the season.

The Cubs did, however, win 13 of the game’s 20 face-offs. But the extra possession did not translate into more goals.

Loyola jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after Kurstin split two defenders and stuck a shot bottom left with 8:15 remaining in the first quarter. But it was all Foothill from there.

Pickell dished to Chris Cole, who fired a shot top right to cap a near nine-minute, six-goal run that put Foothill up 6-2 with 9:22 left in the second quarter.

MacCormack finally stopped the bleeding when he ran coast-to-coast and ripped a shot top left to bring the Cubs within three at 6-3 with 5:40 to play in the half.

Foothill scored four of the next five goals, and Pickell’s man-up goal with 7:50 remaining in regulation gave the Knights their biggest lead at 10-4.

Loyola scored the game’s final three goals, and MacCormack made it 10-7 with 50 seconds left in regulation. But it was too little too late for the Cubs.

“We didn’t play our best game tonight,” Loyola head coach Matt Lewis said. “We made a lot of mental errors and gave up six man-down goals, so it’s difficult to try and come-from-behind when you’re playing like that.