SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Senior midfielder Zahra Smith and sophomore attacker Brynley Hodge each scored six goals to propel St. Francis to a commanding 18-2 road win in Delta League varsity girls' lacrosse action at Peter P. Bollinger Stadium Wednesday night.
The Troubadours improve to 5-1 overall and 3-0 in conference play.
Abby Alvernaz, Elizabeth Barger and Karly Okamoto added two goals each to complete the scoring output. Lauren Wieser led the way with three assists while Hodge and Okamoto earned two apiece. Barger and Smith also helped St. Francis control the draw with four each while Alvarez added three draw controls and three ground balls. Barger and Okamoto also had a team-best three caused turnovers.
Senior goalkeeper Bella McCullough totaled seven saves against the two goals. She now has 14 stops with five goals allowed for the week, adding to her totals against Granite Bay on Monday.
Okamoto hit both of her goals in the first three minutes of play, then assisted Alvernaz from the X in the seventh minute to help the Troubies craft a run of four unanswered to open the contest. She could have had two more assists on feeds into the middle of the eight-meter arc but dropped passes spoiled those opportunities.
Hodge had four of her six goals in the first half, helping SFHS to a 9-1 edge at the break. Falcon senior Simone LeForestier netted a goal just 2:36 into the second half but that was the last time CB managed to score. Smith completed her hat trick just 33 seconds later after a steal on a Falcon clear attempt, scored her fourth goal on Hodge's steal by the CB goal line in the 32nd minute, then added a fifth score (again from Hodge) in the 33rd. Smith's sixth goal came on an eight-meter conversion with four minutes left in the game.
In turn, Hodge followed her back-to-back assists to Smith with her own eight-meter opportunity at the 14:31 mark in the second half. Her sixth goal was the Troubies' last: converting a feed from Wieser with 1:53 remaining.
The varsity win followed a junior varsity contest in which St. Francis held on to a 10-8 victory over the CB jayvees. Olivia Hamm shot 5-for-5 with an assist while Zia Smith turned in a hat trick, but Christian Brothers rallied from an 8-3 deficit to pull within a two-goal margin with two minutes left. However, the Troubies won the final draw and possessed in their attacking third for the final two minutes to preserve the victory.
Zoe Smith and Olivia Alvernaz had the remaining goals for the JV squad, with Alvernaz chipping in two assists.
St. Francis varsity returns to action for a 7 p.m. game against Roseville on Friday night. The JV team will wait until the following Wednesday (Mar. 23) against Oak Ridge.
