FOLSOM, Calif. – Senior Brynley Hodge posted a team-leading hat tricks with a pair of assists, senior Jane Tattersall added another four points, while sophomore Keira Miles and freshman Jayel Miller made key plays in the final minute to hold off a late Eagle comeback run, as St. Francis prevailed over Vista Del Lago, 10-9, in a Delta League girls' varsity lacrosse divisional showdown Friday night.
The Troubadours improve to 7-2 overall, 3-0 in the Delta League and 2-0 in the league's 'A' division. The Eagles (7-4-1, 3-1) normally play in the Capital Athletic League but are associate members of the Delta League for girls' lacrosse.
Miles matched Tattersall with two goals and tied with Hodge and Zia Smith for the team lead of three draw controls. In turn, Hodge also paced SF with three caused turnovers and three ground balls, with the latter matching junior Cami Zucker. Miller notched eight saves.
The Troubies surrendered a Bella Acosta goal off the initial draw, then went on a 6-0 run across the next 18 minutes of play. The Eagles struck twice on eight-meter chances in the final 2:18 of the second quarter to cut the halftime margin to 6-3, and won the first four draws of the third quarter to pull within a 7-6 margin.
Hodge assisted goals by Miles and Karly Okamoto in the 33rd and 36th minutes, respectively, pulling SF back up by a 9-6 edge. Miller came up with a stop against Alexa Nobis early in the fourth, then Tattersall's five with 5:11 left stretched the Troubie lead to four at 10-6.
However, Vista senior Lauren Hagel scored twice to halve the lead to 10-8. She won the ensuing draw control with less than two minutes left, setting up a Nobis goal with 1:33 remaining. After an SF timeout, Miles won the next draw to give her team a chance to kill the clock. Unfortunately, errant pass put possession back to the Eagles with just 48 ticks.
Vista called a timeout of its own to set up a chance to force overtime. Freshman Maxine Vu drew a trip to the eight-meter arc, which had resulted in the four straight goals around halftime, but had also seen two Miller saves in the fourth. The Troubie ninth grader came up with yet another stop, but even that did not end the game: a 10-second crease violation put the ball back in Eagle hands for one more attempt.
Fortunately for St. Francis, Vista fired a wild pass of its own. Miles went up against Nobis and Vista junior Madeline Elmhurst for a mad dash for the loose ball, with Miles scooping up the clinching ground ball on the right edge of the 12-meter fan with two seconds left in the game.
The win marked just the second Troubie win in the last six series meetings with the Eagles, a matchup that had included a 9-7 battle in the Delta-SFL third-place game in 2022, and the April 19 regular-season finale last season. In the previous meeting, St. Francis led 9-8, fell behind by 10-9, tied the game at 11-11 with 11 minutes left, then surrendered four goals in a span of 4:39 down the stretch.
Friday marked the second win over a Delta League 'A' Division opponent in as many contests, following the 12-8 victory against Davis on Wednesday.
Earlier in the evening, St. Francis' junior varsity squad fell by an 11-1 final to a speedy Eagle squad. Freshman Claire Gabri posted 16 saves while freshman Brynley Magley scored her first career goal to put her team on the board with 2:11 remaining in the contest.
Both St. Francis squads return to action in a 5:30/7 p.m. home doubleheader against Bella Vista on Wednesday at Mather Sports Complex. The Broncos, like Vista and Rio Americano, are associate members of the Delta League for lacrosse.
