SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Junior Yasmin Azar and senior Micaela Romo opened each half with a goal while senior goalkeeper Isabella De La Cruz posted her second consecutive shutout, lifting top-seeded St. Francis to a 2-0 win over No. 4-seeded Whitney in a CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division II semifinal game at Cristo Rey High Friday night.
The Troubadours improve to 18-0-4 for the year, while the Wildcats finish their season at 11-6-8. The win sends St. Francis to its 19th all-time section championship final. The Troubadours own 14 total CIF-SJS banners, including 13 in the Division I draw.
Azar scored virtually off the opening kick, intercepting a Wildcat ball, dribbling around toward the right flank, then firing in a shot from just beyond the penalty area with just 45 seconds having elapsed. Romo scored almost as quickly in the second half, thanks to a Giada Pagano throw-in from the left corner. The future Saint Mary's Gael leaped in the air with Whitney's Lauren Hunter and Nina Souta, then headed the ball through that traffic into the net.
Azar's goal raised her season total to nine, putting her in a tie with Caitlin Hafenstein for second on the team. Romo added to her team highs of 13 goals and 32 total points.
For her part, Hunter was arguably the Wildcats' most dangerous offensive threat, firing a shot on goal in the final minutes of each half that De La Cruz stopped. Hunter also handled two set pieces, but missed on both opportunities. Whitney junior Lakelee Perkins also had one of her team's better chances in the first half, but her shot sailed just high of the crossbar. Then in the final minute before halftime, Courtney Wagner fired a shot that slammed off the crossbar.
De La Cruz had two of her biggest saves in the 65th, first on a Wagner free kick then another on Dani Haas' header attempt. This started a wave of five straight Whitney attempts, but De La Cruz saved two, another hooked left of its target and still another was halted by SF defender Maggie Koerwitz.
St. Francis and Whitney collectively have the last three SJS Division II crowns: the Wildcats in 2019 and 2022, the Troubies in 2020.
The Troubies await the winner of the Del Oro-Woodcreek semifinal, taking place in Rocklin at press time. The championship game is held at 5 p.m. on Wednesday at Cosumnes River College. Tickets will be available only on GoFan next week.
UPDATE (8:20 p.m.): Third-seeded Del Oro upset second-seeded Woodcreek, 1-0, in the opposite semifinal Friday night... Woodcreek was the only other remaining undefeated team in the section, besides SF... The Golden Eagles, the Sierra Foothill League's third-place finishers, improved to 9-5-5 with the win... Junior Kiana Faucette, who announced her early commitment to USF last December, leads DO with nine goals.
