SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Seniors Lindsey Porter and Janae DeFazio both scored as No. 4 St. Francis advanced past No. 5 Leland out of San Jose in the first round of the CIF Northern California Reginal playoffs Tuesday night.
"I am very pleased with the win but I am more pleased with how we did it," said Head Coach Maryclaire Robinson. "We had intensity tonight we have not had in a few games. They were very good and we had great team defense. We had layers going forward. How we did it today I feel very good about.'
Porter scored off blast from a leave behind by senior Elise Urkov for the early lead five minutes into the game. It was the eighth goal of the season for Porter and 10th assist for Urkov.
"That is good soccer and it is them being themselves," said Robinson. "It is a tribute to their personal genius. It was fun."
DeFazio connected for the second goal after a run by the right side in the 26th minute to add to the lead.
"It feels awesome," said junior Grace Barger. "It was a really strong win for the team and it feels really good advancing."
Playing in hard rain from start to finish, the St. Francis defense anchored by sophomore Gigi Koerwitz in goal held Leland (16-4-3) scoreless throughout.
St. Francis (21-3-4) advances to host No. 8 Cardinal Newman, a 2-1 overtime winner over No. 1 Whitney in the opening round.
"I am so excited," said Barger. 'We have really embraced this field and learned to play well on it. I am excited to play another home game and I am hoping for a lot of people to come support. We are excited to move on to this new championship and have something to look forward to after a disappoint loss in sections."
St. Francis is undefeated at their Cristo Rey High School home field this season at 8-0-1.
The Troubadours will play Cardinal Newman at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $9 for adults and $5 for children (5+) and seniors.
"They are going to be a great opponent," said Robinson.
No. 2 Montgomery defeated No. 7 Menlo School 4-0, while No. 3 Mountain View posted as 3-1 win over No. 6 Livermore in the other first round action. The final will be played Saturday at 4 p.m. at the top remaining seed.
