SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Junior Grace Barger had a team-best six goals to lead the lacrosse team to a 19-5 win over Rio Americano at Encina High School on Thursday.
"The most important thing is we are making progress every day," said Head Coach Julia Southard. "That is all we keep talking about. We are hitting that right now."
The Troubadours jumped out to a 14-3 lead in the first half. Barger scored the first two goals of the game and four overall in the first half.
"We got off to a really good start," said Barger. "It was really key to win a lot of the draw possessions so we were able to convert and score a lot of goals in the first half."
Senior Jade Borg added all four of her goals in the first half.
The defense posted another strong effort, holding the Raiders to five goals and forcing five turnovers. Sophia Casentini had a team-best four ground balls and junior Tara Keene added two in her first action of the season. She added two goals in her return.
"It was really good," said sophomore Izabel Quackenbush. "We got a chance to work on a lot of things. It was a really good game and we improved a lot from it. We keep getting better with our communication."
Southard says the work on the defense has been showing on the field.
"Our team slides are gotten way better," said Southard. "We call it a slide package so it is not just one person going for the ball. We are sliding as a unit and they really grasping that concept. It is showing on the field."
Overall seven players scored in the contest. Judy Cates added three goals with Sophia Gorona notching two and Gabby Bauman and Casentini adding a single goal.
"The more people you have scoring the harder it is to defend," said Southard. "We are preparing for the future by getting as many people as possible involved."
St. Francis hosts Bishop O'Dowd on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Mather Field Sports Complex.
"We are all super excited and we are all pumped for the weekend," said Barger. "We need to keep working together so we can get some good results."
St. Francis 19, Rio Americano 5
SF – Barger 6, Borg 4, Cates 3, Keene 2, Gorona 2, Bauman, Casentini.
