RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. – Sophomore Brynley Hodge scored five goals, senior Zahra Smith added another four, while freshman Karly Okamoto tallied two goals and four assists for six total points as St. Francis defeated Christian Brothers, 17-4, in the second of two "Holy Stix" rivalry girls' lacrosse games at Mather Sports Complex Tuesday night.
The varsity win followed a tough 10-4 loss for a short-handed Troubadour junior varsity squad.
The St. Francis varsity improves to 10-3 for the year and 7-1 in Delta League play, keeping a hold on second place in the standings heading into a road game against front-runner Davis. The Troubie JV drops to 8-4 overall.
Smith also came up with eight draw controls, while Abby Alvarez won five and Elizabeth Barger claimed three more, helping the Troubies largely keep possession in their attacking third. Alvarez chipped in another two goals. Senior goalkeeper Bella McCullough totaled two saves in each half for four total.
The varsity won on the strength of a 6-0 run early in the first half, then a tear of 11 unanswered goals from the 9:59 mark in the first half to the 49th minute overall. CB drew first blood when Megan Cann returned a second chance after McCullough stuffed her first attempt just 1:55 into the contest. But Hodge equalized after the ensuing restart, drawing a shooting space call and converting the eight-meter chance.
This started the initial 6-0 run from the third through ninth minutes of the game. Hodge assisted Claire Westberg in transition for the go-ahead, then fired in a feed from Okamoto to make it 3-1 at the 18:17 mark. Overall, the eight-meter arc served as the stage for half of St. Francis' 14 first-half goals, as Alvarez (ninth and 23rd), Smith (ninth, 21st and 25th) and Hodge (19th) converted such chances.
Christian Brothers briefly cut into the 6-1 Troubie start with back-to-back goals, but Okamoto answered back with a pair of successful crease rolls, igniting what ultimately grew into the 11-0 run. SFHS led 14-3 at the break, then Okamoto assisted goals by Barger in the 39th and Hodge in the 50th. McCullough tallied consecutive saves down the stretch until junior Shannon Wong managed to get an eight-meter shot past the William Penn-bound goalkeeper with 82 seconds remaining.
This win was preceded by the 10-4 loss to CB, in which Troubie freshman Sofia Rainbolt tallied 13 saves, including one off the shin that had her hobbling for most of the contest. She toughened up to finish, as St. Francis had no reserves (field or otherwise) to draw from: veterans Matea Avery and Olivia Hamm each were called up to the varsity game to provide support.
Zia Smith and Chloe Tanner each scored two goals for the Troubies. Tanner had her team's only goal in a 4-1 first half. She then hit her second on an assist from Chloe Garcia with 13:08 in the second half, then assisted Smith's quick-stick goal at the 8:12 mark, cutting the CB lead to 9-3. Zia Smith netted her second score on an assist from her twin sister Zoe Smith with 5:23 to go.
Wednesday's split ended a long homestand dating back to March 14, and served as the last regular-season home game for St. Francis. The two teams return to action at Davis on Thursday, a makeup date from a contest originally scheduled for March 11. First draws are 6 p.m. (JV) and 7:30 (varsity) at Halden Field.
