Boys Lacrosse: Foothill Comeback Falls Just Short

It’s tough to spot any team an 8-2 lead at the end of the first quarter, but when the team is the San Ramon Valley boys’ varsity lacrosse team, the hole seems that much deeper.

That’s exactly the deficit Foothill faced Tuesday as the Falcons hosted the Wolves in the East Bay Athletic League opener for both teams. San Ramon came into the season as the prohibitive EBAL favorite thanks to a win over St. Ignatius, as well as a roster stocked with talent.

So when the Wolves scored early and often Tuesday night, it seemed like the Falcons were in for a long night. But the defending EBAL champs boast a talented lot as well and refused to go quietly into the night.

On a cold and rainy night, the Falcons fought back valiantly, forcing the game into overtime before dropping a thrilling 16-15 final to the Wolves.In fact the Falcons led three times in the final quarter, the last of which came with 90 seconds left when Shane O’Neill scored off an assist from Mike Barbier for a 15-14 lead.

But a Jordan Weiss goal with one minute left tied it at 15-15, sending the game into overtime. The Wolves won the faceoff in the sudden death period and North Carolina bound junior Michael Tagliaferri scored just 22 seconds into overtime to give the Wolves the win.

Tagliaferri ended with five goals and a pair of assists for the Wolves, with Patrick Worstell adding four and Weiss finishing with three goals. Jackson Brown, Chris Garlieb, Ryan Smart and Chase Miller had one each for San Ramon. Miller had four assists.

Gabe Garcia had five for Foothill, with Colin Kacinski, Jerome Rigor, Joshua Rigor and O’Neill ending up with two each. Barbier had one goal to go with his assist and Foothill goalie Ben Krebs had a goal scoring from 80-yards out when he caught the San Ramon defense sleeping.