SACRAMENTO, Calif. – St. Francis has earned the top seed in the 2024 CIF NorCal Division II girls' soccer championship tournament and will host Casa Grande at American River College for its first-round matchup, the state governing body announced Sunday afternoon. The game will take place at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
All tickets are available exclusively through GoFan: https://gofan.co/event/1428975?schoolId=CIF . Tickets are $9 for general admission and $5 for students and senior citizens.
The Troubadours (20-4-3) are coming off their 15th all-time Sac-Joaquin Section championship, and their first since 2020. SF blanked Granite Bay, 1-0, in the title game after victories against Mountain House, Tracy and Vacaville. This is the program's highest seed in the regional, following a No. 4 in 2019, No. 5 in 2020, No. 7 in 2023. The 2019 squad shut out Leland (2-0) and Cardinal Newman (2-0) before nipping Mountain View, 1-0, for the NorCal title.
Senior and Coastal Carolina commit Yasmin Azar paces SF offensively with 17 goals and six assist for 40 total points, with Caitlin Hafenstein (11), Elizabeth Barger (8) and Jada Dwyre (8) following among the goals leaders. Dwyre scored the lone goal in Saturday's 1-0 victory against the Grizzlies. Sophomore Miley Blough rates as the Troubies' assist leader with 10, one ahead of senior Mia Barsotti. Seniors Angelina Delaini and Maggie Buffleben have split up goalkeeping chores throughout the year, with Delaini holding a .569 goals against average (nine goals in 1,265 minutes).
The Gauchos (18-2-1) dominated the Vine Valley Athletics League, rolled through Antioch (8-0) and Acalanes (3-0) as the top seed in the North Coast Section, but lost a 2-1 upset to Tamalpais in the semifinal round. Sophomore Bailey Guerrero leads the way with 18 goals and 10 assists with senior Lauren Reposa not far behind at 14 and 8, respectively. However, the key to CG's success has been its defense: only 10 goals allowed for the season. Senior keeper Abby Harvey has surrendered just five of those scores in 1,460 minutes for an astounding 0.27 GAA and 11 shutouts.
The CIF NorCal playoffs consist of five eight-team brackets. Tamalpais, Casa Grande's area rival to the south, picked up the No. 2 seed. Sequoia, a Central Coast Section semifinalist, earned the No. 3 seed; while Northern Section D-I champ Chico picked up the No. 4 slot.
