Ryan Mix eventually sent the Knights home hurting.
Mix scored the game-winner with 1:48 left, lifting CdM to a 7-6 nonleague victory at Tustin High Wednesday night.
Mix scored the Sea Kings’ first goal and last one.
“I looked at my matchup. I finally got it,” Mix said for being held scoreless for 45:46. “[I] figured it was my turn. Noah cleared out.”
With Molnar out, Mix attacked from behind the cage before circling in front of the goalie to beat him and get CdM’s first victory against Foothill.
The Sea Kings (2-0) have been waiting for this occasion for quite some time. They celebrated with good reason. They knocked off the No. 9-ranked team in the state by LaxPower.com
“They’re the two-time reigning CIF Southern Section champion,” CdM Coach Mark Todd said of Foothill. “This is the first time we’ve beat them in six years. In the six years we played them, we played them 10 times.”
The eleventh meeting belongs to CdM, ranked No. 47 in the state. Credit Molnar, Mix, the defense, and goalie Andrew Noto, who finished with 13 saves.
Coach Jon Fox said Foothill (2-1) hasn’t kept track of the series. You can bet he will now.
The Knights’ coaching staff praised Noto, telling Todd, “he was nothing fancy, but he stopped everything.”
Noto stuffed the Knights’ attack in the second half, recording seven saves in the fourth to keep CdM in the game. Only once did Foothill score in the second half.
Mitchell Cooper gave the Knights a 6-4 lead at the 10:10 mark in the fourth. Cooper created both of Foothill’s two-goal leads, the other in the closing seconds before halftime.
After a scoreless third quarter, Molnar provided the firepower at the start of the fourth.
