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The Foothill High School girls’ lacrosse team completed an incredible postseason run, beating University 8-7 to win the North Coast Section Division II title and finish what turned out to be one big road trip.
In the first round despite being No. 6, well above No. 14 seeded Northgate, the Falcons were sent on the road to Northgate as the Broncos were league champs.
It was no problem, as the Falcons jumped out to an 11-5 lead at halftime and coasted the rest of the way for a 14-8 opening-round win.
Hailey White scored four goals and one assist. Madeline Rich had three goals and one assist.
“Winning our first playoff game I think gave the girls the confidence to know they could win if they worked together,” Foothill coach Mackenzie Riddle said. “The girls worked so well together throughout the playoffs and that helped tremendously.”
In the quarterfinals, the Falcons had to travel 1.5 hours to face No. 3 Sonoma Valley.
It was a much closer, back-and-forth game as Foothill led 5-3 at halftime, but Sonoma surged back to tie it at the end of the third quarter.
It was still tied 7-7 with around four minutes left when SV’s two best players got yellow card penalties within a 30-second stretch. It was both players’ second card, forcing them to play down two players the remainder of the game. Foothill took full advantage, scoring the final two goals of the game.
White led Foothill with four goals, and her sister Molly White scored one goal and three assists. Chloe Grijalva had an outstanding game in goal, with 16 saves.
In the semifinals, Foothill against No. 7 Bishop O’Dowd, was a tight game as neither team led by more than two goals throughout.
Freshman phenom Amelia Fowler had a standout game with three goals and three assists. White scored four goals and one assist and 14 draw controls.
In the championship game at No. 4 University, Foothill came out strong on defense behind defender Emily Evans and Grijalva in goal to take a 6-2 lead at halftime.
They pushed it to 7-2 early in the second half, when University scored the next five goals to tie the game with around seven minutes left.
It was just 30 seconds later when Rich scored the winning goal. Grijalva had a crucial save on an 8-meter penalty shot with around three minutes remaining, and Foothill was able to hold possession to secure the win.
Fowler led the scoring with three goals and two assists; White had three goals and one assist. Grijalva had an outstanding final game with 13 saves.
Amador Valley and Foothill swimming
For the second straight year, Foothill has a state champion in swimming.
Last year it was U.S. swimming superstar Luka Mijatovic, and this year it was senior Mckinley Scobie. Scobie won the girls’ 200 freestyle with a time of 1:47.42. She was also second in the 100 free.
Amador Valley had some amazing swims, with Cade Vieler taking second in the 100 backstroke and Rylee Hutchinson second in the 500 free.
Freshman Alexis Thompson was fifth in the 100 breaststroke and Kealan Tupper was sixth in the 200 free.
The Amador boys’ relay team of Vieler, Ryan Wong, Toby Huang and Tupper were fifth.
In the 100 breast Ethan Wang of Foothill was eighth in 55.37.
RAGE signings
The Pleasanton RAGE Girls Soccer Club held its annual Honors Night Event on April 27.
Celebrated at the event were the Class of 2026; the sophomore, junior, and senior scholar-athlete award recipients; the recipients of the Pleasanton RAGE Scholarship Award for Excellence in Academics and Community Service, Teagan Iranitalab (Cal High School) and Hayden Moe (Amador Valley High School); and the seniors who have committed to playing college soccer.
Following are the players that have committed to playing in college: Parker Bridgman (Cal Poly-Humboldt), Christina Cooper (Westmont College), Sophia Haro (West Valley College), Ava Jara (Cal State-Chico), Elliana Lawrence (San Francisco State University), Praisia Lowe (Menlo College), Fiori Morin (Cal Lutheran University), Colbie Nolan (University of Tulsa), Vanessa Olivier (Menlo College), Veronica Osejo (University of San Diego), Olivia Sams (Menlo College), Isabelle Toy (Las Positas College) and Jenna Tufo (Youngstown State University).
Storm titles
Pleasanton’s Lacrosse Club – the Pleasanton Storm – captured championship titles in the 10U, 12U and 14U Premier divisions at the East Bay Lacrosse League Championships on May 9.
The club’s performance across three age groups marks a significant achievement for the program and its coaching staff.
The 10U Pleasanton Storm defeated Livermore 8-6. The 10U Pleasanton team remained undefeated throughout the entire season.
In a double-overtime game, the 12U Pleasanton Storm won against Berkeley 7-6.
The 14U Pleasanton Storm played their championship game against Oakland’s Skyline team, winning 11-3.
Editor’s note: Dennis Miller is a contributing sports writer for Embarcadero Media Foundation’s East Bay Division. To contact him about his Pleasanton Preps column, email acesmag@aol.com.
