Santa Ana, CA — Foothill traveled to Mater Dei for their Senior Night. The lower levels had upset the favored Monarchs, Frosh/Soph winning 3-1 and JV winning 1-0, and the stage was set for the main event. Foothill came out strong and continuously broke down the Mater Dei defense but could not find the back of the net. The Monarchs also repeatedly peppered the Knight's back line and eventually the height mismatch paid off for them. Despite going down 0-2 in the first half, the Knights showed resilience. Unfortunately, a goal by Mater Dei just before the first half whistle put a damper on Foothill's belief in a comeback. Foothill started the second half started on their back foot due to sluggish play as well as a confident Mater Dei looking to impress the home crowd on Senior Night. After about 5 minutes, the Knights woke back up and began to press again. They did not give up despite questionable calls from the referee including a gifted penalty kick off a cleanly won ball by Dylan Hicks. The Monarchs went up 0-4 after they converted from the mark. At that point, for all intents and purposes, the game was over. The Monarch's added another goal on sloppy defensive play by the Knights but Foothill ruined the home team's shutout on a screamer of a goal by Matthew Mendoza assisted by Karlo Martinez late in the second half. Tyler Reid and Dylan Hicks were invaluable in back and kept the game a battle well into the second half. Josh Picker was also courageous in the net, keeping the Monarchs at bay and denying many dangerous attacks. Tyler Valdez, Garrett Zehner, and Matthew Mendoza were offensive standouts for the Knights. Foothill looks to regroup and takes on Beckman for the Tustin City Championship on Wednesday evening at Northrup Stadium, 6:30pm. Come support your Knights.