ROSEVILLE, Calif. – Junior Sophia Santsche-Chavez posted 14 saves and three steals in an afternoon meeting with perennial Central Coast Section powerhouse Sacred Heart Prep, then senior Lydia Vlahos scored two goals and assisted on two others against Sanger in the nightcap, but St. Francis lost both ends of its Friday doubleheader at the Woodcreek Invitational girls' water polo tournament at Roseville Aquatics Complex.
The Troubadours lost to the Gators by an 11-1 in the mid-afternoon tilt, then fell to the Apaches, 11-5, in the Day 1 finale. They move to 2-3 for the season.
SHP has reached 14 of the last 15 Central Coast Section championship games, winning 11 of them. Sanger has ranked in the Central Section top 10 on MaxPreps in each of the last two seasons.
Santsche-Chavez stopped three shots in the opening quarter, then five in the second – including two on the same Gator possession. Unfortunately, Sacred Heart dominated possession throughout the game, more than doubling the Troubies' 16 shot attempts. The Gators led 9-0 at the half, keeping SF off the board until the 1:08 mark of the third, when Abigail Benavidez posted a steal at two meters, then scored on a Piper Brostrom assist on that possession. SHP quickly answered with a 6-on-5 conversion by Maddy Johnston after the next restart.
St. Francis had a power play opportunity midway in the fourth after Havana Sperber drew an exclusion, but SHP goalie Jane Rakow got a hand on Miranda Ferguson's shot.
In Friday's late game, the Troubies matched the Apaches blow for blow early on, with Vlahos figuring on all four goals in a 4-4 tie through the first quarter. She drew first blood at the 5:05 mark, scored on a lob with 1:21 left, while assisted on perimeter goals by Brostrom at the 2:09 and 0:47 marks of the frame.
Ashlyn Brock tacked on a fifth goal midway through the second, but Sanger answered to hold a 7-5 lead at the break, then scored four unanswered in the third quarter to extend its margin to 11-5. The Troubies shot 0-for-12 in the second half, despite four combined steals by Benavidez and Vlahos in the fourth.
St. Francis will relocate to the West Park site for Saturday's action, starting with an 8:20 a.m. contest against Del Oro. A win will pit the Troubies against McClatchy in the Gold 13th-place game at 2:10 p.m.
