SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Gabriela Briscoe made eight saves in her debut at goalkeeper while Holland Sperber's putback in the 66th minute helped St. Francis' JV Red squad pull off a 1-0 victory over Rio Americano's JV Gold squad to conclude a Booster-Q and Holiday Toy Drive tripleheader at Cristo Rey Wedesnday night.
The Raiders actually controlled possession for the majority of the game, allowing only six Troubie shots. St. Francis finally broke up the scoreless tie in the 66th minute, when Annika Rose drew a foul in Rio territory. Gianna Aragon launched a long kick that goalkeeper Maddie Lacoste stopped. But Sperber pounced on the loose ball and returned it to the cage for the game-winner.
St. Francis JV Red moves to 2-2-1, notching its second win over Rio for the season.
The JV Red win was the third of three shutouts for SF for the evening. Junior Elizabeth Barger, junior Caitlin Hafenstein and senior Micaela Romo each scored goals to lead St. Francis to a 3-0 shutout of Franklin in the varsity opener. JV Gold followed varsity with a 2-0 win, with JV Red concluding the evening.
St. Francis varsity remains undefeated at 6-0-2, improving to 2-0 in league play.
Barger put the Troubies in the board with her bomb from more than 30 yards out in the 13th minute. Hafenstein then made it 2-0 in the 25th: Jaycee DeFazio played to Romo on the right side of the penalty box, then Romo sent the ball across the cage to Hafenstein on the left side for the finish.
Then in the second half, Hafenstein drew a hard foul about 25 yards out along the right side of the field. Romo handled the kick, going over the top and out of the reach of the Franklin keeper for the score. In all, St. Francis outshot its guest by a 22-8 margin, with the only two Wildcat attempts missing wide of frame.
JV Gold netted both of its goals in the first half of the evening's middle contest. Franklin actually had the first chance, with Maren Matsuka firing a rolling shot that went straight into the arms of Troubie keeper Maggie Buffleben in the opening minutes. However, sophomore Sofia Rabinovitz answered a minute later when she drove up the left side of the field, juked the Wildcat keeper, and easily deposited a shot into the back of the net.
Freshman Miley Blough fired three shots before coming up with St. Francis' second tally, including two on goal. Finally, in the 33rd minute, she collected a pass from Angelina Chavez, then fired from some 25 yards out along the left side. Blough, Chavez, Rabinovitz and Madeline Squaglia each unloaded shots on frame, but SF did not extend its lead after the break despite an 11-2 shooting margin in the half.
The Troubies' JV Gold squad improves to 7-1 for the year, including a 4-0 mark against actual jayvee teams.
All three Troubie teams used the Booster-Q and rare tripleheader as a venue for their annual holiday toy drive, collecting gifts in kind for the Saint John's Program for Real Change, located next door to Cristo Rey. Varsity and JV Gold return to action for the annual "Holy Cup" rivalry doubleheader at Christian Brothers on Friday afternoon, while JV Red travels to Inderkum that same day.
