ELK GROVE, Calif. – Junior Jada Dwyre scored a putback on an initial Yasmin Azar shot for the lone goal in St. Francis’ 1-0 win over Granite Bay, resulting in the Troubadours’ 15th all-time Sac-Joaquin Section championship in the Division II girls’ soccer final at Cosumnes River College Saturday afternoon.
SFHS improves to 20-4-3 for the season, and will advance to the CIF NorCal Regional beginning on Tuesday. The Grizzlies, who posted upsets of Woodcreek and Rocklin to move on to Saturday’s final, finish their season at 9-6-5 overall.
The Troubies struck early when Azar’s initial shot was halted by GB goalkeeper Piper Brown just three minutes into the contest. Brown’s block glanced toward the right side of the cage, where Dwyre and Caitlin Hafenstein had swooped in. Dwyre put the finishing touch on the ball for her eighth goal of the season. Azar earned her sixth assist of her final year.
St. Francis nearly doubled its lead in the 19th when Azar was tripped just outside the penalty box. While Brown blocked the future Coastal Carolina Chanticleer’s ensuing free kick, Mia Barsotti ran in to score the putback – only to be ruled offsides.
Barsotti, Azar and sophomore Miley Blough each managed multiple shots throughout the game, but Dwyre’s goal continued to hold up.
Meanwhile, St. Francis locked down defensively, not allowing a Grizzly shot until Ella Griffin’s strike missed high and wide in the 49th minute. In the 74th, Troubie senior goalkeeper Angelina Delaini came up with the save on the lone GB shot on goal. The Grizzlies challenged the SF cage again in the 80th but did not manage a shot. Brooke Harmon, Maggie Koerwitz, Estella Bacsafra, Sarah Bashore, Giada Pagano and Elizabeth Barger led the charge in keeping Granite Bay out of scoring position.
Saturday’s win marked the first section title since 2020. Coincidentally, two current Troubies – Barger and senior Sophia Fahey – had older sisters on that squad (Grace and Madie, respectively). Furthermore, Koerwitz’ older sisters Jackie and Gigi starred for the 2019 St. Francis team that won the program’s lone NorCal championship.
The NorCal Regional consists of a quarterfinal round on Tuesday, semifinals on Thursday, and a final on Saturday. All games are hosted by the higher seed, with start times tentatively set for 5 p.m. Brackets will be available on the main CIF website (https://cifstate.org/sports/
