SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Sophomore forward Kate Lewis scored two goals while freshman Holland Sperber tallied two assists and goalkeeper Aubrey Lesnau posted five saves, leading St. Francis' JV Red squad to a 4-1 win over Rio Americano in the program's home opener Tuesday afternoon.
The Troubadours open at 1-0. The JV Red game was the lone SF-Rio contest to remain on the schedule, as the JV Gold postponed its Nov. 29 matchup with the Raiders for February, while the Troubie varsity canceled its game outright.
Lewis scored a goal to end each half, the first of which came as a result of a throw-in from fellow sophomore Kate Stallings. The inlet found Annika Rose, who sent the ball up to Sperber, who in turn deflected the pass to Lewis in the center of the box. This came in the 39th minute, giving the Troubies a 2-0 halftime lead.
Lewis completed her brace on a relative fluke play: with less than 90 seconds left in the contest, she advanced up the right side and fired a ground ball toward the frame. The ball "nutmegged" the Rio goalkeeper and rolled into the cage for the fourth SF goal.
Mia Nelson and Penelope Cole also scored goals for St. Francis. Nelson put the Troubies on the board in the 10th minute, collecting a feed from Sara Ellis and quickly converting. Cole scored St. Francis' third goal. She collected a loose ball from Sperber, who was heavily defended on the right side of the box, then sent a shot through the goal mouth from about 20 yards out.
Oddly, Rio arguably controlled possession for the majority of the contest, and outshot its host by a 7-2 margin in the first half and a 10-7 edge overall. Lesnau made four saves before the break and one after. Even the lone Raider goal was nearly an eighth stop, but the ball had enough force to get through her gloves to spoil the upset bid.
Tuesday represented the first of three meetings between Rio and SF JV Red in the 2022-23 season. Both teams will meet again at Cristo Rey High on December 14 and February 23.
JV Red returns to action in the JV portion of the Inderkum Invitational, first with Del Campo at 3:30 p.m. Friday. The Troubies' JV Gold team will compete in the varsity half of that same tourney, taking on Vacaville (8 a.m.) and Pleasant Grove (1 p.m.) for the first day of action. Meanwhile, St. Francis varsity opens in tourney play at the Rocklin Invitational, facing Ponderosa (9 a.m.) and Cordova (3 p.m.) for Friday's slate.
Both Inderkum Invitational tourneys and the Rocklin Invite continue through Saturday.
