SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The St. Francis soccer team advanced to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II championship game with a 1-0 win over Lincoln Tuesday night. Senior Jackie Koerwitz provided the game-winning goal in the 15th minute and the Troubadours posted the shutout against the Zebras.

"It is very exciting," said Head Coach Maryclaire Robinson. "We have a good group. I feel like we have a lot of gas in the tank and we are focused."

St. Francis will play No. 2 seed Whitney at 5:30 p.m. at Rocklin High School on Thursday. The Troubadours are in the section final for the first time since 2015 and will be looking for their first title since 2014 and 14th overall in school history.

Koerwitz provided the only scoring in the game off a cross from senior Janae DeFazio that was assisted by junior Lindsey Piatanesi for the goal.

"The early goal is really important," said Robinson. "All the pressure is on them to tie it up. It gave us some early confidence and breathing room. We can play with a little more freedom and less caution. It was great. We have bene fortunate in every playoff game to get that first one."

It was the eighth goal of the season for Koerwitz in her 13 games and third of the playoffs.

"We were attacking and had made it a goal to get a goal in the beginning," said Koerwitz. "It was good we were able to put it away and it ended up being the only goal."

St. Francis recorded 29 shots in the game but had to rely on its defense to have the goal stand up.

"We have great leadership in the back," said Robinson. "We have six players in the back who have stepped up and been fantastic. Junior Marli Berry is a great leader and Gigi (Koerwitz) is good in goal. We have managed to appreciate how important pressure is. It is not only the back line but the pressure when the midfield tracks back."

Gigi Koerwitz made three saves in the goal, holding the Fighting Zebras from scoring.

"We really played together and communicated," said Berry after the game. "We really tried to go long since it was 1-0 the whole time. We had really good defensive transition."

St. Francis won its 20th game of the season to improve to 20-2-4 on the season, winning the team's sixth straight and extending the unbeaten streak to 12 games.

"I am so excited," said Koerwitz. "The last time I was in the section championship was as a freshman in basketball. I am really excited to reach the final with this team in soccer."

St. Francis and Whitney (15-4-2) met in the third game of the season at Rocklin High School in the Rocklin Invitational, tying 1-1 on a goal by Piatanesi.

The win also qualified the team for the CIF Northern California Regionals to be played next week. The brackets will be announced on Sunday.

The Troubadours also moved up in the TopDrawerSoccer Fab 50 high school rankings to No. 15 I the poll released on Tuesday.

Tickets for the finals at Rocklin will be $10 for adults and $5 for students.