ELK GROVE, Calif. – Senior midfielder Micaela Romo netted two goals while junior forward Mia Barsotti assisted on three scores as St. Francis blanked Pleasant Grove, 6-0, in the varsity opener of a Delta League girls' prep soccer doubleheader Monday afternoon.
The Troubadours improve to 5-0-2 for the season and open league play at 1-0. Their win preceded a 7-1 JV Gold victory over the Eagles in which Angelina Chavez and Sofia Rabinovitz each tallied braces, with Miley Blough leading all players with three assists.
Romo scored both of her goals after the break in the 59th and 68th minutes, or her team's fourth and fifth goals, respectively. The first came on a Barsotti cross from the right corner. The future Saint Mary's Gael attacked the left side of the cage and deflected the pass off her torso into the back of the net. Romo then scored her second on her own rebound and putback, again off an initial feed from Barsotti.
Barsotti's first assist went to Caitlin Hafenstein in the 25th, propelling SF to a 2-0 lead that stood up into the halftime break.
Jaycee DeFazio also earned a goal and assist in the varsity win. She posted the first score of the contest in the 23rd, collecting an outlet pass from Maggie Koerwitz, side-stepping a defender, then blasting her shot from more than 25 yards out. Senior Madeline Welch and junior Piper Sherburne accounted for the other two Troubie goals: Welch on a lob over the mixer on a DeFazio feed to start the second half, Sherburne in the 72nd minute to set the board at 6-0.
St. Francis held PG to just four shots, with goalkeepers Ava Hawkinson and Isabella De La Cruz combining for the shutout with one save apiece.
In the JV game, Rabinovitz and Giuliana Del Guerra scoring in the sixth and 20th minutes, respectively, to craft a 2-0 lead. The Eagles got one back in the 11th minute to cut the margin to 2-1, then Blough assisted Chavez two minutes to send the game to a 3-1 score at the halftime break.
St. Francis then piled up another four scores in the second half. Rabinovitz netted her second on a steal and counter in the 46th minute, then Jada Dwyre scored on a second chance after an initial Blough attempt on goal in the 55th. Madeline Squaglia made it 6-1 when she drove up the left side in the 60th, then Chavez finished her brace with five minutes remaining after an initial shot from Chloe Rhodes-Nguyen.
The Troubie JV Gold improves to 6-1 for the year, with a 3-0 record against junior varsity teams (they went 3-1 against varsity competition at the Inderkum Invitational earlier in December.)
Both St. Francis teams join the mostly freshman JV Red team for a home tripleheader at Cristo Rey on Wednesday. The varsity opens against Franklin at 4 p.m. with the JV Gold following at 6 p.m. Then JV Red hosts Rio Americano for a 7:30 nightcap. Wednesday night is also the annual Booster-Q for soccer, with the boosters running a grill throughout all three games.
