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Zauner's third brace lifts JV Gold past Whitney

Zauner's third brace lifts JV Gold past Whitney

ROCKLIN, Calif. – Junior Miley Blough assisted Giuliana Del Guerra and Maggie Koerwitz within the first nine minutes of action, lifting St. Francis to a 2-0 shutout of Whitney in the varsity portion of a Sierra Foothill League girls' soccer tripleheader Tuesday night.

The Troubadours, who entered the game ranked fourth in MaxPreps' Sac-Joaquin Section rankings, remain undefeated at 6-0-3 overall and 2-0-1 in SFL play. The Wildcats slip to 2-7-1 for the year with an 0-3 mark in league.

St. Francis took an initial lead in the fifth minute, when Blough's blast caromed off the crossbar and straight to the feet of Del Guerra, who finished with the easy tap-in. Then in the ninth, Blough handled the corner kick, sending a ball to a leaping Koerwitz on the opposite side of the penalty box. That 2-0 start held up for the remainder of the game.

Blough nearly had a third assist in the 59th when she played a ball to sophomore Lacey Harmon, whose blast rattled off the cage. Meanwhile, Koerwitz teamed with Sarah Bashore and Estella Bacsafra to allow only six Whitney shots and help freshman goalkeeper Mia Rabinovitz notch her sixth shutout of the season.

Rabinovitz posted a save against Whitney sophomore Aubrey Parsons on a fast break following the Harmon near miss, then Koerwitz laid out for a spectacular slide tackle against senior Christine Louie in the 61st, clearing out the ball on a clear counterattack opportunity for the Cats. Whitney's Nina Souto managed two chances to break the scoreless spell in the final minutes of the contest. She pushed a shot just right of the cage in the 74th, then stole an errant back-pass to Rabinovitz in the 76th – only for the freshman keeper to thwart the play and preserve the shutout.

The varsity win followed a 4-0 loss for St. Francis' Red junior varsity squad against the Wildcat frosh-soph squad. Whitney's Julia Rawls netted goals in the sixth, 44th and 45th minutes for a hat trick, while Brooklyn Maday converted Kaylee Smith's cross from the left corner in the 35th.

St. Francis had its scoring chances, with Charlotte Kryski and newcomer Ava Arnold each firing shots off corner kicks. However, Wildcat keeper Ava Kruse stopped each of those attempts, plus a Caroline Relles free kick in the 62nd. Kryski drew a foul just beyond the penalty box, and Relles managed to put her serve on frame. Kruse also posted a save against Paityn Lowery in the final minute before the halftime break.

JV Gold wrapped up the tripleheader with a 3-1 win, with freshman Monet Zauner posting her third brace of the season and Azaria Agbodike firing in the game's first goal. Agbodike came through in the eighth minute for the only score of the first half, then Zauner doubled the lead fish a long finish in the 49th. Zauner then scored her second goal thanks to Liv Vasques-Martin's corner kick in the 77th.

The Troubies remain undefeated with an 8-0 mark, and would have had their sixth shutout if not for a fluke play in the 65th minute. As Whitney's Ashley Hollis sent a ball into the mixer toward sophomore teammate Talia Urrea. SF goalkeeper Gianna Flesoras and defender Miki Chow converged on the ball, with the sophomore keeper tripping her freshman teammate in the process directly in front of the left post of the goal. Despite the Troubie-on-Troubie collision, with Urrea keeping her feet as quite literally a bystander, the play was ruled a foul on Flesoras. Sophomore Lila Combs converted the ensuing penalty kick.

Vasques-Martin matched Zauner's team-high total of five shots, with only a diving save by the Wildcat keeper preventing her third attempt from finding the back of the net.

Tuesday's action was the first of three SFL road tripleheaders for the Troubies this week. The three squads head to Del Oro on Thursday, with JV Gold leading off at 3:30, followed by varsity (5:30) and JV Red (7:15). Then on Saturday, St. Francis heads to Rocklin for a rare league matinee: JV Gold at 10 a.m., varsity at noon, JV Red at 2 p.m. The weekend series was originally scheduled for December 12.