SACRAMENTO, Calif. – St. Francis posted a 22-10 shot advantage while senior goalkeeper Isabella De La Cruz notched six saves, but a breakaway goal in the eighth minute ultimately doomed the Troubadours in a 1-0 loss to Del Oro in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II girls' soccer championship game at Cosumnes River College Wednesday night.
Top-seeded SF suffers its first loss of the season, moving to 18-1-4 overall. The No. 3-seeded Golden Eagles improve to 10-5-5 and snare their fourth all-time SJS banner and their first since winning three straight from 2014-16.
Both teams earn automatic berths to the CIF NorCal Regional by virtue of reaching the section title contest.
Del Oro scored the lone goal of the contest early in the eighth minute when junior Kiana Faucette got behind the Troubie defense, leaving her with a one-on-nobody opportunity. Faucette and DO sophomore Ella Hyde later had shots on goal in the first half, but De La Cruz was there for the stop. Meanwhile, Jaycee DeFazio and Elizabeth Barger blocked shot before the break to halt any further scoring.
On the offensive end, Micaela Romo pounded the Golden Eagle cage with three shots on frame in the final nine minutes before halftime, but junior keeper Gray Wilson got a piece of all three.
With a substantial breeze now playing to their backs, the Troubies had four early chances to equalize in the second half, including a Romo shot in the 43rd that caromed off the right post and an Azar blast in the 47th that Wilson barely tipped over the crossbar for a corner kick. De La Cruz continued to keep DO from extending its lead. She halted a Faucette shot in the 54th and swooped in to stop a free kick by Mateja Lisac in the 60th.
Still, the Eagles prevented any further SF attempts for more than 20 minutes. The Troubies managed several opportunities down the final stretch. Madeline Welch had a shot field blocked in the 74th, then Caitlin Hafenstein's attempt at a second-chance score went straight to Wilson. Romo drew a hard foul along the left flank in the 79th, and the set piece resulted in a corner. Barger had two shots from inside the eighteen on that corner, but one was blocked and the other saved by Wilson.
St. Francis will learn of its NorCal seeding and opponent after the selection meeting on Sunday. The region championships consist of five eight-team tournaments. The first round takes place on February 28, the semifinal on March 2, with the championship games running March 4.
The Troubies won the NorCal title back in 2019, coming off a lost in the section title game to Whitney. They earned the No. 4 seed, blanked Leland and Cardinal Newman in the first two rounds by identical 2-0 scores, then claimed a 1-0 victory in the title game on a golden goal by Lindsey Piatanesi and current Miami Hurricane third-year starter Jackie Koerwitz.
Updates on the CIF NorCal bracket will be available on GoTroubies.com over the weekend.
