SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Junior Madeline Squaglia scored her first career varsity goal in the 76th minute to help St. Francis battle Franklin to a 2-2 draw in the varsity opener of Tuesday's non-league girls' soccer doubleheader at Cristo Rey High School's Adamson Family Sports Center.

The Troubadours and Wildcats enter their respective seasons at 0-0-1. Both programs come off successful playoff runs from last year: St. Francis won the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II title and NorCal Region banner in 2023-24, while Franklin held the No. 1 seed and advanced to the semifinal of the SJS D-I bracket before falling victim to Del Oro's string of upsets.

Franklin, St. Francis and Davis also formed a powerhouse trio atop the Delta League standings last season, with the Troubies and Blue Devils since departing for the Sierra Foothill League.

Squaglia's goal ended what had been a long deficit going back to the 33rd minute. The Troubies took the initial lead less than two minutes into the contest, with Franklin fouling in its own penalty box and sending junior Miley Blough to a successful penalty kick. Freshman Mia Rabinovitz, making her SF debut in net, posted a pair of saves to protect that lead until the 19th, when senior Mara Cochon's cross found sophomore Ella Cochon for a goal to equalize at 1-1. This came moments after the elder Cochon pushed a wide-open shot just to the right of the cage.

Franklin's Eileen Guillen blocked a Squaglia attempt to protect the tie, then Madyson Fernald put the Wildcats on top when her free kick sailed over the Troubie wall, tipped off Rabinovitz' gloves, and found the back of the net with 7:47 to go.  

St. Francis largely controlled possession throughout the second half, but failed to erase that deficit despite numerous chances: Giuliana Del Guerra narrowly missed a serve from Holland Sperber in the 47th, Maggie Koerwitz came a split second from heading in a corner kick in the 57th, and Wildcat senior Addison Seese nearly gifted the Troubies an own goal in the 61st.

Meanwhile, Rabinovitz halted three shots on goal in the second half while sophomore Lacey Harmon blocked an Alexys Petrilla shot to hold Franklin to its two first-half scores. Then in the 75th, senior Sofia Rabinovitz stole the ball and fired a shot off the Wildcat crossbar for the closest Troubie scoring threat since the opening PK. This soon resulted in a throw-in, with senior Jada Dwyre launching a ball to Squaglia in the box for the header. That proved to be the last opportunity for either team, resulting in the 2-2 draw.

Following the varsity impasse was almost 57 minutes of scoreless play in the junior varsity nightcap, but St. Francis' JV Gold picked up two goals – both from freshman Monet Zauner – in the span of eight minutes to claim a 2-0 shutout. Sophomore Emma Kryski set up the first goal when she was tripped well outside the 18 in the 57th. She took the free kick and found Zauner in the box for the go-ahead score.  
Then in the 65th, Anna George played a ball to Zauner high in the box. Zauner gave the pass a soft touch for her second goal, doubling the Troubie lead to 2-0. Zauner nearly completed a hat trick soon after, but Franklin keeper Emily Gipson made the stop.

Tuesday's twinbill also features the program's annual Booster-Q booster barbecue, and provided the venue for the first of two St. Francis toy drives in support of the Stanford Settlement Neighborhood Center's Operation Cratchit. Fans contributed dozens of unwrapped toys for local children. The second such drive will run as part of next Tuesday's SF basketball doubleheader against Laguna Creek.

The Troubie varsity squad returns to action on Thursday for a 7 p.m. game at Oakmont, while JV Gold goes idle from competition until the SFL opener on December 12. In between, the JV Red team kicks off its season at Carondelet's Cougar JV Classic with a Friday night game against Berkeley.