SACRAMENTO, Calif. – In the JV half of the Inderkum Invitational girls' soccer tournament, the Troubies' JV Red squad settled for a 3-3 tie with McClatchy after dropping its 8 a.m. matchup to Pleasant Grove, 3-0. The Troubadours actually fell into a 3-0 hole in the first 19 minutes of play against the Lions before Holland Sperber scored back-to-back before halftime, cutting the margin to 3-2. Then in the 56th, Mia Nelson assisted Ava Larkin to equalize.
The JV Red managed a total of 23 shots against CKM, salvaging a draw despite missing four of the team's five total sophomores.
Meanwhile, in the varsity draw, St. Francis' JV Gold placed second, falling to the host Tigers in the title match almost 12 hours after forging a 5-0 win over Grant Union in the early-morning game. Defender Sarah Bashore, midfielder Miley Blough and goalkeepers Maggie Buffleben and Angelina Delaini each earned all-tournament honors.
In fact, St. Francis entered the title matchup as the No. 1 seed in the tournament, having amassed the most points in the round-robin scoring system. The tourney awarded six points for a win, three points for a draw, one point for every goal scored up to a three-goal maximum, plus a bonus point for a shutout win. The Friday victories against Vacaville and Pleasant Grove were thus worth nine points apiece, while the morning victory against the Pacers garnered the maximum 10.
Head coach Alex Hoang's SF team continued to get heavy offensive output from its frosh members, following Blough's four-goal performance on Friday. Blough and attacker Madeline Squaglia each had a goal and assist in the morning win over Grant. Blough assisted Sofia Rabinovitz on the game's first goal, then Blough converted a penalty kick. Squaglia provided the dime on an Angelina Chavez goal to make it 3-0, then Giuliana Del Guerra stretched the lead to 4-0 on a Jada Dwyre assist.
Finally, Squaglia netted her first prep goal on an assist by Olivia Hamm to increase the winning margin to five.
In the nightcap, Inderkum junior Allie Lucas scored the game's only goal in the 17th minute, finding the net on her fourth attempt and the first on goal. St. Francis largely bombarded the Inderkum defense in the second half, posting a total of 15 shots and three corner kicks. However, the Tiger keeper came up with 10 saves after needing to stop only two before the break. Squaglia had four of the seven SF attempts on frame in the final five minutes alone.
St. Francis varsity completed an undefeated weekend at the Rocklin Invitational, dispatching Bella Vista and Del Campo by scores of 3-0 and 2-0. Coverage of the varsity action is available elsewhere on GoTroubies.com.
JV Red enters a long idle period, return to action against Rio Americano on December 14 in a rare home game at Cristo Rey. The JV Gold turns around to host Vista Del Lago for its home opener on Tuesday, playing the 4 p.m. lead-in to the varsity's 6 p.m. start. Note that this JV Gold-varsity schedule differs from the usual home doubleheader format.
