Santa Ana Foothill Makes Its Move

Santa Ana Foothill kept a fairly low profile through the first two months of the season, allowing the spotlight to shine on perennial powers Long Beach Wilson, Newport Harbor and Lake Forest El Toro.

But the Knights stepped forward last weekend at the TruWest Memorial Cup in San Jose, where they upset Newport Harbor in a semifinal before losing to Wilson in the championship game.

That success vaulted Foothill ahead of the Sailors in the Southern Section Division I coaches’ rankings, where the Knights are No. 2 behind Wilson heading into the final week of the regular season.

Foothill (19-6 overall, 4-0) can cement its status for the playoffs and clinch the Sea View League title outright with a victory today at fourth-ranked Newport Harbor (19-5, 4-0). The loser will probably be seeded fourth in the Division I playoffs.

“I personally think we will win if we keep playing the way we have been,” senior J.W. Krumpholz said.

Foothill began the season 3-2 but has won 10 of its last 12, with its only losses during the span coming against Wilson, the four-time defending Division I champion. Five of the Knights’ six losses this season have come against the Bruins and Anaheim Servite, ranked No. 1 in Division II.

Foothill, which dealt with injuries and illnesses early in the season, lost Krumpholz and goalkeeper Travis Stachowski for two weeks while they were competing at the junior world championships in Buenos Aires.

“We’re getting everybody going on the same page and finishing strong,” Coach Jim Brumm said. “Things are starting to stabilize a little bit.”

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Krumpholz, the Division I co-player of the year last season, scored six goals Saturday in the 11-9 semifinal victory over Newport Harbor.

The Knights led by as many as five goals in the second half. He has a team-high 74 goals this season, despite missing six games while in Argentina and being the main focus of opponents’ defenses.

“It has been a lot different than last year,” said Krumpholz, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound two-meter player. “Defenses have been dropping on me and I’m not getting as many touches as usual.”

But that has opened the door for higher-percentage perimeter shots and juniors Garrett Hayes and Calvin Hohener have taken advantage. Hayes has scored 55 goals this season, and Hohener has 31.

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Villa Park senior Alex Churnside is another two-meter player drawing a lot of defensive attention. A Division II first-team selection last season, Churnside is finding other ways to contribute.

In a nonleague game against El Toro on Oct. 7, Churnside scored only twice, but he drew seven exclusions and one penalty shot to lead the Spartans to an 8-6 victory.

“I’m getting more assists and drawing a lot more ejections this season,” Churnside said. “We actually play better when I don’t have to do everything.”

Villa Park is ranked No. 3 in Division II behind Servite and Los Alamitos. The Spartans have won 13 of their last 14 games, with their only setback a 9-6 loss to Servite last week.

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Mission Viejo ended El Toro’s 33-game winning streak in the South Coast League last week, scoring a 13-12 overtime victory at El Toro. It guaranteed the Diablos at least a share of their first league title in two decades.

Mission Viejo senior Bryson Beardsley said the program’s upswing can be traced to the school’s refurbished aquatics facility and a tight-knit group of seniors who were developed by former coach Don Cholodenko, who led the Diablos to the playoffs in each of his three seasons before resigning in May because of personal reasons.

“Before, [the team] had a new coach every year,” Beardsley said.

In addition to Beardsley, the Diablos are led by junior Jake Mitchell and sophomore Kevin Mitchell, who are unrelated. They each scored four goals in the victory over El Toro. Michael Baba, a senior two-meter guard, scored the tying and game-winning goals in overtime, and senior goalkeeper David Ostrom had 14 saves.

“We knew coming into this year that we were really strong,” Beardsley said. “We played [El Toro] in the summer and really matched up well.”

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Other streaks recently put to rest:

* Irvine Woodbridge finished third in the Sea View, qualifying for the postseason for the first time since 1989.

* Santa Ana Mater Dei defeated Santa Margarita, 8-6, last week, putting the Monarchs on the verge of their first playoff berth since 1991.

* Ontario Chaffey clinched the Mt. Baldy League title Tuesday with a 12-2 victory over Chino Don Lugo, its first championship since 1980.

* Palos Verdes won its first Bay League title since the school re-opened four years ago with a 16-10 victory Tuesday over Redondo.