SOUTHERN SECTION GIRLS’ SOCCER PLAYOFFS : Foothill Upsets Trabuco Hills, 2-0

Capitalizing on teamwork, tough defense and perhaps its underdog status, the Foothill High School girls’ soccer team toppled Trabuco Hills, 2-0, in a first-round 3-A playoff match Friday afternoon at Trabuco Hills High School.

Foothill (9-11-1), the third-place team in the Century League, scored two goals midway through the first half, then managed to keep Trabuco Hills (18-5-1) from scoring despite being outshot, 16-3, in the second half.

“Our whole intent was to take the game to them from the beginning, and we did that in the first half,” Foothill Coach Don Augustine said. “They came back in the second half, but we held them. We had some lucky breaks, too. But hey, we played hard as a team.”

Especially at the start, which might have been the greatest difference in the game. Unlike Foothill, Trabuco Hills, the Pacific Coast League champion and the fifth-seeded team in the 3-A division, seemed to come out a bit slow.

Foothill took a 1-0 lead when captain Kathy Shortall fired in a left-footed free kick from 30 yards out.

Sophomore Julie Borden scored Foothill’s second goal from inside the penalty box, despite the presence of several defenders, giving the Knights a 2-0 lead going into halftime.

While Trabuco Hills dominated the second half, Foothill held strong, especially in the game’s final 10 minutes. Trabuco Hills had several shots on goal, most of which were just inches away from scoring.

Along with Foothill goalkeeper Michelle Webb, who had 22 saves, halfback Melanie Madole was praised by Augustine for defending Trabuco Hills’ top player, Linda Lunceford. Lunceford, a senior, is the county’s second-leading scorer this season with 31 goals.

“This was my first time ever (guarding Lunceford),” Madole said. “I heard she was the No. 1 (actually No. 2) scorer in the county, so it made me a little nervous. But it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. She probably had an off day.”

Trabuco Hills Coach Mike Flanegian called it an off day for his entire team.

“If we played them again tomorrow, we’d win,” Flanegian said. “If we played them again next week, we’d win. If we played them again next month, we’d win. This was an upset.”

In other 3-A matches:

Laguna Hills 3, Kennedy 2--Monica Shrout scored in overtime for visiting Laguna Hills (12-10-3). Kelly Besser and Crista Capshaw scored the other goals for Laguna Hills and Claudia Smedes had all three assists. Kennedy ends at 15-5-1.

La Quinta 2, Bishop Montgomery 1 (OT)--Stacey Reynaga scored in overtime for La Quinta (16-3-1). Cheryl Jones scored in regulation for La Quinta.

Woodbridge 1, Moreno Valley 0--Lori Niles scored the game’s only goal with an assist from Tina Hall 12 minutes into the second half. Woodbridge is 13-5-2. Moreno is 16-6-4. Michelle Helring had the shutout.

Redlands 3, Sunny Hills 1 (OT)--Kelly Ward scored 77 minutes into the match to tie it for host Sunny Hills (14-3-5). Redlands (13-4-6) scored once in each overtime for the victory.