Redlands East Valley falls to Foothill in semis

Foothill boys soccer coach Doug Reid has two goaltenders for different situations.

It proved very helpful in Friday evening’s victory over Redlands East Valley.

The teams played to a scoreless tie in regulation and through two 10-minute overtime periods before Foothill prevailed in the penalty shootout, 5-4.

The Golden Knights (176-6) will face Newport Harbor for the CIF Southern Section Division 2 championship next weekend at a site to be determined.

The starting goalkeeper was Joshua Picker. The 5-foot-11 junior had never played serious soccer before this season.

“He had three friends who would take shots against Picker early in the morning,” said Reid, who is in his second year as Foothill’s head coach. “He taught himself the position and showed sheer grit.”

Picker’s main sport has been baseball. He played well defending the goal, making a key overtime save against REVS Cruz Navarro.

The other goalkeeper is Rayden Trujillo. The senior played for several years but not last season.

“Rayden came out for the team this year, but he was a little rusty,” Reid said. “He started on the junior varsity team but worked his way up to return to the varsity.”

Trujillo’s job is to substitute for Picker when there is

REDLANDS >> a penalty shot. He does his job well. He sent Foothill to the semifinals with a victory over Redondo Union in the last round, and helped the team win two games in shootouts during the regular season.

“We both have different specialities,” Trujillo said. “I didn’t really know him (Picker) at the start of the season. I got to know him better and he is cool.”

Trujillo spent his junior season working in the weight room.

“I was too skinny,” Trujillo said. “I was 119 pounds and now I weigh 144 pounds. I’m working on getting six-pack abs.”

Reid said he thought his team had the better chances during regular play, but couldn’t finish the chances. REV, which finished with a 17-5-2 record, had better chances as the game continued.

The leadoff shooters for both teams failed to score. Navarro was stopped by Trujillo, and Foothill’s Issac Garduno was thwarted by REV goalkeeper Tait Whittemore. The next four shooters for each team made their penalty shots, but Trujillo stopped freshman Omario Gonzalez in the sixth round.

“I played mind tricks and read their eyes,” Trujillo said. “The shots kept going left, but on the last one I went right and made the save.”

Matt Mendoza was the sixth shooter for the Golden Knights.