GRANITE BAY, Calif. – Senior Miranda Ferguson scored her first career double hat trick, assisted on another goal, and drew the five-meter foul for yet another, helping St. Francis rally from a 5-2 deficit to claim a 10-9 win over Sanger on the second day of Granite Bay's Grizzly Classic girls' water polo tournament Saturday.

The Troubadours improve to 8-4 for the season.

Ferguson's performance follows the five-goal night in Friday's 12-0 shutout against McClatchy, marks her seventh hat trick of the season, and boosts her season scoring total to 36. Senior Abigail Benavidez added another two scores – a counterattack finish in the first quarter, and the penalty shot in the third – with Audrey Ellis and Erin Maeng each chipping in one.

Senior goalkeeper Sophia Santsche-Chavez totaled 14 saves, including three on a single power play in the final minute of the third. She also notched five steals and even put a shot on goal.

The Troubadours trailed by margins of 4-1 and 5-2 in the first. Benavidez put SF on the board with her goal at 3:45 in the first, but the Apaches answered with three straight. Only when Ellis' shot scored bar-down did the Troubies break up that stretch. Santsche-Chavez posted back-to-back saves on the other end, but the third-chance opportunity finally found the back of the net for the Sanger fifth tally.

St. Francis came out swinging in the second frame, with Frannie Wells drawing a kickout that resulted in Ferguson's 6-on-5 goal. Santsche-Chavez locked down the cage with four saves in the second quarter, while Maeng reduced the deficit to a single goal in unusual fashion: her shot from the four spot caromed off the Apache goalie and crawled across the line.

Coming out of halftime down by just 5-4, Ferguson turned Emma Dietrich's feed into a goal from set, equalizing at 5-5. Sanger responded with a rebound and putback after the next restart to reclaim the lead, only for Ferguson to strike again. She won inside water at two meters, drawing a five-meter call in the process. Benavidez converted the penalty shot, tying the game again at 6-6.

Ferguson netted another power-play goal with 4:05 on a Piper Brostrom assist, giving SF its first lead at 7-6. Still, Sanger responded on the next possession to knot up the game for a third time, 7-7, only to have Ferguson come through yet again. After Clare Krengel's initial shot was saved, Ferguson drew an exclusion. She passed to Krengel, who quickly returned the ball to its sender for a 6-on-5 conversion and an 8-7 Troubie lead with 1:57 remaining in the third.

Ferguson managed another shot on St. Francis' next possession, but the Apache goalie halted the attempt. Ferguson committed an exclusion foul as the teams retreated the other direction. Sanger called a short timeout to allow itself a full power play. That's when Santsche-Chavez stepped up with three straight saves, including two against senior Marjorie Krueger.

The Apaches managed to close the gap one more time to start the fourth, with Isabelle Hartsell getting a sweep/flip shot to find its way past Santsche-Chavez. Not 10 seconds later, however, Ferguson powered her way to her fifth goal, thanks to an Addison Hutchcraft entry pass to set. The Hutchcraft-to-Ferguson connection repeated again with 3:49 to go, giving SF its largest lead of 10-8.

Krueger later converted a five-meter goal for Sanger to bring the score to 10-9 with 2:36 remaining, but that was the last of the scoring by either squad. Wells teamed with Santsche-Chavez for a steal at two meters, Santsche-Chavez collected her 14th save, then after SF opted to dump the ball with 12 ticks left, Hutchcraft picked off another steal to seal the win with just :03 on the clock.

The St. Francis victory avenged two decisive Apache wins from almost exactly a year ago: an 11-5 decision at Woodcreek on September 22, 2023, then a 13-4 setback just seven days later at the Grizzly Classic. The Troubies return to Sierra Foothill League play on Monday at home against Oak Ridge. JV plays at 4 p.m. followed by varsity at 5 p.m. at Jesuit.