SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Senior defender Sarah Bashore assisted goals by juniors Marissa Ow and Miley Blough to lift St. Francis from a late deficit to a 2-1 victory over Christian Brothers in the varsity finale of Saturday's "Holy Cup" girls' soccer rivalry tripleheader at Bollinger Stadium.

The Troubadours improve to 9-4-4 for the season.

St. Francis' JV Red began the day with a 1-1 draw against the Falcons, with Paityn Lowery drawing a penalty foul and Caroline Relles converting the ensuing kick in the 75th minute. The Troubies' JV Gold then followed with an 8-0 drubbing of CB's jayvees. Freshman Azaria Agbodike netted four goals while junior Liv Vasques-Martin notched three assists to keep Gold undefeated for the season.

Bashore's assists came out of the mixer in front of the CB cage in the 76th and 80th minutes. The first arose from a long throw-in from senior Jada Dwyre. Norah White had entered the attacking third on a counterattack, but Falcon junior Marisela Gaeta swooped in and cleared the ball out of bounds. Dwyre launched her throw into traffic, and Bashore attempted to send the ball in for the score. Instead, it found Ow for the equalizer.

Then in the 80th, the Framingham State commit won possession of a corner kick along the right side of the goal box. With no chance at the cage, she made a sliding pass to Blough near the 18. Blough blasted a shot over the top for the go-ahead.

The Troubies and Falcons battled to a scoreless tie for almost 57 full minutes when CB altered the scoreboard. In similar fashion to the SF goals later in the contest, a scrum of activity send a loose ball to junior Stella DeRoss high in the penalty box. DeRoss sent a putback above the congestion and into the net.

St. Francis, which outshot its hosts by a 7-2 margin in the first half, enjoyed numerous opportunities to equalize following the DeRoss goal. CB sophomore Sara Pierce blocked an Ow blast in the 62nd, while freshman keeper Marie Morton pounced on a ball in the box before either Bashore or Dwyre could get a piece. Morton also stopped a shot from Troubie senior Giuliana Del Guerra in the 67th. White's halted charge on the cage in the 75th was the next SF chance, but that set the stage for Ow's equalizer.

Preceding the varsity win was JV Gold's commanding 8-0 shutout. Oddly, the Troubies started relatively slowly, allowing CB to take the first shot and managing only two attempts of their own in the early going. Sophomore keeper Guinevere O'Brien prevented the Falcons from striking first when she snared Payton Garcia's free kick in the 19th.

However, when Monet Zauner assisted Agbodike along the right side of the box in the 21st, it began an outburst of Troubie scoring. Agbodike completed her brace less than two minutes later when she followed Tallas Schaedler's shot off the left post. Agbodike made it a hat trick in the 27th on a Vasques-Martin pass by way of Schaedler.

St. Francis continued to dominate in the second half, with another double-assisted goal in the 48th. This time, Emma Kryski played a ball to Agbodike, who rerouted the ball to Zauner. On the following center pass, Zauner then returned the favor by assisting Kryski for a goal a mere 25 seconds later to extend the lead to 5-0.

Mariko Palmieri – making her return to action after being sidelined by injury – turned a long upfield run into a Brynn Baker goal in the 52nd. In the 63rd, Vasques-Martin got tripped up in the midfield. She handled her own free kick, but rather than taking a long shot, she played it short to Annika Rose, who redirected the ball to Agbodike for yet another goal.

Vasques-Martin later tallied her third assist, finding Rose on a corner kick with 8:10 remaining in the contest. Meanwhile, JV Gold's defense held the Falcons to only two shot in the second half, with defender Charlotte Lippi interrupting Lucia Fernandez Y Garcia's look in the 64th.

Saturday's set appeared as if it would begin with a Brothers' victory, with Falcon freshman Xochi Tempkin capping a long run in the 34th minute with the game's first goal. JV Red keeper Xitlali Rosales recorded two saves prior to that score, and a Troubie foul in the penalty box led to a dodged bullet in the 29th: CB freshman Elloise Waters sent her penalty kick sailing above the crossbar.

Lowery gave St. Francis four chances to equalize early in the second half, with all four shots either saved or blocked. Then in the 75th, she came slashing through the box, getting tripped near the left post. The foul sent Relles to the penalty mark, where she converted the kick. In the final stretch, Rosales challenged two CB chances before any Falcon could get off a shot. She then notched a save against CB sophomore Sophia Garcia in the final seconds before the final whistle.

Saturday's opener marked the first time JV Red has participated in the Holy Cup tripleheader, as Christian Brothers previously fielded only JV and varsity teams.