SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Senior forward Caitlin Hafenstein posted a brace within the first 15 minutes of play while fellow senior striker Mia Barsotti converted a penalty kick and assisted three other goals as top-seeded St. Francis ran away to a 9-1 win over No. 16-seed Mountain House in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II girls' soccer tournament Saturday at Cristo Rey High's Adamson Family Sports Complex.

The Troubadours improve to 17-4-3 for the year, and will advance to Wednesday's quarterfinal round to face either No. 8 Tracy or No. 9 Whitney. Game time will be 4 p.m. at CRHSS.

Hafenstein netted her team's first and third goals of the contest, both of which took place before the Mustangs managed their first shot. She put SF on the board in the third minute on a corner kick, firing in a return pass from Barsotti from the left edge of the penalty box. Barsotti hit her PK in the seventh minute, then assisted Hafenstein in the 15th and Yasmin Azar in the 17th to double the lead to 4-0.

Only in the 19th did Mountain House get its first chance at the Troubie cage: junior Jayden Reynolds sent a long kick that goalkeeper Maggie Buffleben easily hauled in for the lone St. Francis save. Junior defender Maggie Koerwitz made it 5-0 on a corner kick from Miley Blough in the 26th. The 'Stangs finally spoiled the shutout with less than three minutes remaining in the first half, thanks to the season ninth goal by senior Fuatai Mose

The Troubies hit three more after the break: Abby Clark scored the putback after a Koerwitz header in the 47th, Blough netted a strike on a Giada Pagano feed in the 53rd, Sofia Rabinovitz had the tap-in on Clark's cross from the left flank in the 54th, then Blough found JV Gold call-up Madeline Squaglia in the 74th. Meanwhile, the SF midfield and defense halted any substantial MH opportunities until soon after Squaglia's goal, when freshman Taylor Caoili pushed a shot wide right on a counterattack.

Hafenstein's brace – her first since scoring twice against McClatchy on Dec. 5 – raised her season total to 10, trailing only Azar (15) among team leaders. Barsotti's three dimes puts her in the SF lead with nine.

St. Francis seeks its 15th all-time SJS title and its first since 2020. The Troubadours, who also won the 2019 NorCal banner, advanced to the section championship final last season. This is the second straight year that SF and Mountain House have met in the first round of the postseason.