SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Seniors Janae DeFazio and Jackie Koerwitz both scored and the Troubadour defense continued its strong postseason play to post a 2-0 win over No. 8 Cardinal Newman Thursday in the CIF Northern California Regional semifinals. No. 4 St. Francis will travel to face No. 3 Mountain View at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Mountain View High School.

"We played well," said Head Coach Maryclaire Robinson. "I am a believer in the process because this is a funny game and weirds things happen and you can't control the result. The process today was put together really well. We pressed and scored goals when we had chances."

DeFazio connected in the 18th minute on run assisted by junior Grace Barger. DeFazio ran up the right side of the Cristo Rey pitch, forced the goalie to come out and put her cross in the net for the goal.

"Our midfield was connecting and Grace me through because I moved out wide," said DeFazio of her 12th goal of the season. "I dribbled it and saw the keeper was coming out and I just tucked it away."

The game remained 1-0 the rest of the half before the Troubies connected on a corner kick eight minutes into the second half.

"Putting that second one in off a corner off Jackie's head changed the game," said Robinson. "All the pressure was on them and they had to adjust. We managed the pressure really well."

DeFazio hit the corner high across the face of the goal, hitting Koerwitz for the header goal, the ninth of the season for the University of Miami commit.

"We have scored a lot like that in the past," said DeFazio, who will play at UCLA in the fall. "When we had a chance, I knew I had to play it a little deeper

Cardinal Newman (16-5-1) fought tough to the end, pushing the play looking for a chance to get back in the game.

'We had a lot of good leadership on the field," said Robinson. "They threw a lot of numbers forward in the last 10 and we matched up and made adjustments. The leadership coming in from the back to the mid was excellent."

St. Francis (22-3-4) advanced to the CIF Northern California Regional final for the first time in school history in the second year of the event.

"We knew we had to pick up the intensity from last week and we came out stronger than ever," said senior Elise Urkov. "We really wanted it. It feels really good to have the hard work pay off. It is awesome and I am excited for Saturday."

Game time is set for 3 p.m. at Mountain View High School. The Spartans defeated No.2 Montgomery 3-3 on penalty kicks (4-3) to host the final.

"I think it is really special because we have this year we have a really special group," said DeFazio. "Getting to this level is a really cool experience."

General Admission tickets are $12.00 for adults and Children (5+)/Students (ASB card)/Seniors (65+) is $8.00.