Powerful Foothill scales the heights

Damin Esper, Special to The Chronicle
Saturday, May 22, 2004

Foothill High enters today's 1 p.m. inaugural North Coast Section girls championship with Acalanes as a considerable favorite.

The squad from Pleasanton is 20-0-1 and has scored 10 or fewer goals just four times.

After her team's 10-1 semifinal loss Thursday, Berkeley coach Rebecca Meyer called it a moral victory (Foothill had defeated the Yellow Jackets 19-4 earlier this season), considering the Falcons probably are the best team in the state.

It all started three years ago when lacrosse was introduced to Tri-Valley schools as essentially a club sport -- no playoffs and only a few teams scattered around the area. Scott Corso was the coach of the Pleasanton Lacrosse Club with assistant Stu Brokowsky, and Corso began recruiting Foothill students to play on his team.

"Corso was looking for girls to play," senior Jackie Pugh recalled. "I'm athletic, but I had never done any high school sports. I hadn't been playing softball since I was little, I hadn't been playing basketball since I was little. I was a cheerleader for most of my younger life. I wanted to get into something a little more physical, so I decided to run around and play lacrosse. I played on that first team my freshman year."

The next year the club became an official sport at Foothill, although there still weren't enough other programs for playoffs. Meanwhile, Corso continued to recruit more athletes to give lacrosse a try.

"He asked me to play because he saw me playing in a basketball game," junior Kristen Brophy said. "I didn't have a spring sport."

Corso left after that season, handing the reins to Brokowsky, who has brought the program to the top. The Falcons survived the final challenge of the regular season on May 4, when they beat Carondelet 13-8. Among the key wins are victories over California No. 2 St. Ignatius, No. 5 Acalanes and No. 7 Berkeley. The only blemish on Foothill's record is a 5-5 tie with No. 8 Miramonte on March 23.

Several players have contributed to the strong showing, starting with the goalie, someone Brokowsky has known all her life.

"I'm a little biased," he said, "but my goalie has never lost a game."

That would be his daughter, senior Shari Brokowsky. The team's top three scorers,all seniors, are Sarah Rachmiel, Cristen Andrews and Pugh, who combined for 160 goals in the Falcons' first 18 games. Andrews and Aly Kaye had four goals apiece against Berkeley.

So what's the appeal of a sport the kids haven't played all their lives and haven't seen on television?

"I like it because it's such a combination of all sports," Brophy said. "Soccer, basketball and hockey."

Pugh added that having everybody start from the same point -- essentially zero -- made it more interesting as well.

"A lot of people don't know the game, so if you're somewhat athletic, why not play?" she said. "The fun thing is it's such a friendly sport. Maybe because it's so new that it's not very cutthroat. That's just something you don't see in other sports. I'll talk with the people guarding me. Anyone who plays will just pick up a stick and throw with you."

Brophy agreed.

"Everyone loves winning, and I think that adds a lot to every sport," she said. "But our team camaraderie is probably the best of any team I've ever been around."

That togetherness should carry the team deep tonight, when it will try to complete an unusual double.

"It's the night of our senior ball, too, so we might as well go out and win the game,"Pugh said.

Briefly: Acalanes defeated Miramonte 8-2 in the semifinals behind four goals from Annie McKinley. ... In the boys semifinals, Berkeley got three goals each from Sam Geller and Kyle Wilson to defeat Marin Catholic, and Monte Vista received three goals apiece from Bryan Bonham and Brad Blakey in an 11-8 home win over University, which got two goals each from Jonah Platt-Ross, Andrew Krishner, Victor Harvey and George Timbrell.

Staff writer Mitch Stephens contributed to this report.

NCS Lacrosse
Today's girls championship: No. 3 Acalanes (18-4) vs. No. 1 Foothill (20- 0-1) at Amador Valley, 1 p.m.

Today's boys championship: No. 2 Monte Vista (18-3) vs. No. 1 Berkeley (18-3) at Amador Valley, 3 p.m.