SAN JOSE, Calif. – Freshman Miley Blough assisted Sofia Rabinovitz for a goal while adding a score of her own, and Jada Dwyre converted an assist from Marissa Ow, as St. Francis' JV Gold scored a dominating 3-0 win over Archbishop Mitty in the opener of a rain-soaked girls' soccer doubleheader at Father Jack Russi Field Saturday.
The JV Gold outshot its host by a 19-2 margin, with no Mitty shots allowed in the last 15 minutes before halftime and the entire second half. Blough broke open the scoring by finding Rabinovitz dead center in the penalty box in the 12th minute. The Troubadours peppered the Monarch goal with seven more shots before scoring their second goal: a Dwyre blast from yards thanks to Marissa Ow's pass. Blough then scored her goal in the 65th, launching a free kick from more than 30 yards out from the Russi Field football hash marks.
The JV Gold win served as a lead-in for a 2-2 varsity draw. Junior forward Caitlin Hafenstein assisted Yasmin Azar then scored a goal of her own, all in the final minutes of the game.
The Troubadours remain undefeated with a 4-0-2 overall record. The contest pitted two perennial powers of their respective areas: St. Francis has won 19 Sac-Joaquin Section championships plus the 2019 NorCal Division II regional title. Mitty has 16 Central Coast Section banners plus two runner-up finishes in the Div. I region tourney.
With roughly two minutes remaining and the Monarchs holding a 2-0 lead, Hafenstein centered a pass to Azar, who beat the Mitty backline and finished her eighth total shot and her sixth on goal. Not a minute later, Hafenstein rolled up the left sideline, beat defender Megan Haniger on a 1v1, then went straight to the cage for the equalizer.
The Monarchs arguably dominated possession for most of the contest, holding a 7-1 advantage in shots for the first 27 minutes of play before SF managed to put some pressure on the Mitty cage late before the halftime break. Junior Jordan Geis put her team on the board after Nya Lemery drew a foul on the left side, well beyond the penalty box. Geis served a ball high over the Troubie wall and across the goal mouth out of the reach of goalkeeper Ava Hawkinson.
Mitty doubled its lead to 2-0 in the 58th minute, with Lauren Collier sending a cross to a sliding Murphy Walsh in front of the SF goal. However, senior goalkeeper Isabella De La Cruz posted six saves in her second half duties in front of the cage, keeping the Monarchs in check. Three of these stops came at the expense of Mitty's Kiki Vostermans between the 51st and 64th minutes.
Hafenstein managed a shot in the 66th, which Mitty keeper Adea Nunes saved – one of her 10 total stops – then forced another corner kick in the 74th. However, the corner serve eluded attacker Piper Sherburne, and the Monarchs still had its shutout going heading into the final minutes. De La Cruz notched her final save against senior Sophia Varnauskas in the 75th, setting the stage for Hafenstein's heroics in the final minutes.
The trip to Mitty represented St. Francis' lone opportunity to play a non-SJS team during the regular season. Both Troubie JV Gold and varsity squads begin Delta League play with a doubleheader at Pleasant Grove on Monday. Varsity plays at 3:15, with JV Gold to follow at 5 p.m.
