SACRAMENTO, Calif. – St. Francis has earned the second seed and will host seventh-seeded Christian Brothers in the first round of the inaugural Sac-Joaquin Section girls' lacrosse championship tournament, the section office announced Friday. The game will take place at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at Mather Sports Complex in Rancho Cordova.
The Troubadours won the Delta League with a 5-1 record and enters the playoffs with a 9-3 overall mark. The Falcons tied Woodcreek for the Foothill Valley League championship, and comes into the tourney at 12-3 for the year.
This is the first season that the SJS has sponsored a girls' lacrosse championship. Sacramento-area teams formerly continued their season as part of the North Coast Section. The top three teams from each of the Delta League and Sierra Foothill League plus the top two teams from the FVL form the all-division, eight-team bracket.
Oak Ridge captured the top seed and will host Woodcreek, Granite Bay earned the No. 3 seed and will host Davis, and Del Oro nabbed the fourth seed and the right to host Vista Del Lago. All other quarterfinal games also take place at 6 p.m. on Tuesday. The two semifinal games will go on May 2, also at 6 p.m., with the winners squaring off for the section final at Christian Brothers' Peter P. Bollinger '57 Stadium on Saturday at noon.
Leading the Troubies offensively is a pair of Division I-bound collegiate players, Brynley Hodge (Xavier) and Jane Tattersall (Winthrop). A year removed from setting the school record for goals, Hodge and Tattersall have netted 35 and 33 goals, respectively. Sophomore Keira Miles trails close behind with 28 goals, while junior Karly Okamoto leads SF with 31 assists. Hodge also paces her team with 37 draw controls, with senior Brianna McGahan leading the way 17 caused turnovers. Freshman Jayel Miller has 70 saves with 73 goals against at goalkeeper.
The Troubies' season has also featured a series sweep against Vista Del Lago, the March 9 victory over Saint Francis of Mountain View, and an 11-9 thriller over Granite Bay one week later. In fact, the team's three losses were settled by a single goal and happened on the road against relative powerhouse teams: 10-9 in overtime at Monte Vista, 7-6 at Del Oro and 12-11 at Davis.
The Falcons opened the season with setbacks against Rocklin and Del Oro, but nearly ran the table on the FVL, with only an 8-7 squeaker against Woodcreek preventing an unblemished league mark. Sophomore Quinn McLaughlin leads CB with 57 goals and 13 assists, not counting Friday's game against Rio Americano.
Oddly, 2024 represented the first non-COVID season since 2015 that did not feature a "Holy Sticks" rivalry game against the area's two largest Catholic girls' programs. The Troubadours have won all 18 matches in the series in the era of MaxPreps records (2008 to present).
TICKETS/PARKING: St. Francis hosts its home lacrosse games in Mather's North Soccer Field. Due to SJS championship policies, the Troubadours will charge admission for the contest, with tickets available exclusively via GoFan at https://gofan.co/app/school/CIFSJS. Additionally, parking in the immediate lot adjacent to the North Soccer Field will be limited to players, coaches, SF athletics staff, game officials and vehicles with valid ADA identification. All guests must park in the lot across Schriever Avenue, then enter the gate on the southeast corner of the field. (Note: for those unfamiliar with Mather Sports Complex, fans may not park in the lots serving the the Governor's Office of Emergency Services. These lots are usually gated by game time.)
