SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Freshman midfielder Keira Miles scored a double hat trick while junior Brynley Hodge added five goals and ignited a second-half comeback, but St. Francis' rally from a 16-10 hole ultimately ended in an 18-17 setback against Davis in a battle of last year's Delta League girls' lacrosse co-champions at Mather Sports Complex Wednesday night.
The Troubadours even their record to 3-3, with an 0-2 mark in league play. The Blue Devils improve to 6-2 overall and 2-0 in Delta League games, with both matchups coming against SF.
The varsity nightcap followed a dominating 18-3 win for the Troubie junior varsity, with Olivia Hamm and Olivia Alvernaz each netting five goals. The SF jayvees jump to 4-1 for the season, with two Delta League wins against Davis.
St. Francis varsity endured a rollercoaster battle with its guest, taking a 5-3 lead in the first half before falling behind to an 8-6 halftime deficit. The Blue Devil edge swelled to 16-10 when junior Tory Agnew netted one of her eight goals at the 10:37 mark in the second half.
However, the Troubies answered with a 7-1 run across the next 10 minutes to erase that deficit, thanks in large part to Hodge's and Miles' play off the draw. Hodge converted eight-meter chances in the 46th and 49th minutes to cut the lead to 16-12. Jane Tattersall scored on a crease roll in the 50th to trim the margin to 16-13. Miles and Tattersall each scored in the 51st to close the gap to one goal at 16-15. Agnew won the next draw and scored to bump the Davis lead to 17-15 with 3:43 left, but the Troubies quickly answered with Tattersall assisted Zia Smith's quick stick to make it 17-16 with 3:06 remaining.
Davis sophomore Katie McMullen won the following draw – her whopping 12th total in the contest – giving the Blue Devils another chance to work the clock and add an insurance goal. But SF senior Hayley Labia, a former volleyball and tennis player making her lacrosse debut, came up with a save against DSHS junior attacker Ruby Adler. This put SF back on the counter attack. Miles drew a shooting space foul on the opposite end, then buried the eight-meter try for the 17-17 equalizer with just 48 seconds remaining.
Agnew struck again, winning the subsequent draw and eventually scoring the go-ahead for Davis with 23 seconds left. Miles gave the Troubies one final gasp to tie the contest for a fifth time when she won the next draw, but Elizabeth Barger's shot missed just high of the cage.
Not surprisingly, the draw played a major part of the varsity game's flow. While Hodge and Miles helped SF gain possession to mount the second-half comeback, McMullen did likewise in helping her team enjoy its 5-0 run late in the first half. For the game, the McMullen-Agnew pairing combined for 21 of the game's 37 total draw controls.
Miles won seven DCs for the Troubies. Tattersall added a hat trick to go with two caused turnovers. Sophomore Karly Okamoto assisted goals by Hodge and Barger early in the contest, then delivered a key crease roll midway through the second that ended another 5-0 Davis run.
In the JV contest, the two Olivias figured on nine of the Troubies' 11 goals in the first half: Alvernaz scored four before the break, while Hamm scored three times and assisted Zoe Smith on two others. For her part, Smith completed her hat trick by the 20th minute of the game, then added a fourth goal – again on Hamm's assist – less than four minutes into the second half.
Chloe Tanner, Lena Schnack, Gianna Erdmann and Sofia Rabinovitz also scored for the SF jayvees. Rabinovitz' goal came on a free-position opportunity with 4:06 left in the contest. Brianna Akins drew the trip to the arc, but opted to assist Rabinovitz for the score.
The Troubadours return to action on Friday for a Delta League doubleheader at Bella Vista, starting at 5:30 p.m. They also have a Saturday visit to Granite Bay that is expected to be postponed, but has not as yet officially come off the schedule. As usual, SF fans should check GoTroubies.com for updates on the weekend slate.
