KENTFIELD, Calif. – Senior midfielder Zahra Smith scored four goals while freshman Karly Okamoto tallied a goal and two assists for three total points, but St. Francis could not overcome a first-half deficit in falling, 17-10, to Marin Catholic in the first round of the North Coast Section Division I girls' lacrosse championship tournament Tuesday afternoon at the Ghilotti Family Football Field.

 

The Troubadours, seeded 10th in the bracket, finish their season at 14-6. The seventh-seeded Wildcats, which went undefeated in the Marin County Athletic League, improve to 17-3 for the year and will await the results of the San Ramon Valley-Dougherty Valley matchup.

 

Smith scored two goals in each half, including St. Francis' first score in the seventh minute, which otherwise interrupted a 9-1 start for MCHS. The Wildcats went on to hold a 13-4 halftime lead, with senior middie Thea Falvey contributing eight draw controls to that cause. 

 

Kayla Conroy and Audrey Carr, who netted a game-high five goals each for MC, led off the second half with goals to extend their team's lead to 15-4. However, St. Francis responded with a run of five straight goals from the 32nd through the 46th. Smith scooped up a loose ball inside the arc and drive right for the first score. Sophomore Elizabeth Barger converted an eight-meter chance at the 11:42 mark to cut the lead to 15-6. Okamoto scored on a crease roll four minutes later to trim the deficit to eight, then Abby Alvernaz drew an eight-meter foul just under the six-minute mark. She scored that free position attempt to make it 15-8.

 

Finally, Okamoto fed Smith cutting left toward the cage, completing the run of five unanswered at the 4:11 mark and bringing the Troubies to within 15-9. But a costly turnover led to Carr's fifth goal at the 1:02 mark. Carr won the ensuing draw, then Conroy converted an eight-meter chance with 31 ticks left. Claire Westberg's quick-stick goal on an Okamoto assist put the Troubies' final tally on the board with just six seconds remaining.

 

Tuesday's playoff stands as the career finale for eight St. Francis seniors: Smith, Westberg, Alvernaz, goalkeeeper Bella McCullough, defender Lauren Baleria, attacker Lauren Wieser, middie Johanna Stevenson and defender Ruby Stevenson. 

 

Smith's four goals raises her 2022 season total to 58, surpassing the old school record of 55, set by Katie Ku (2008) and Hayley Kusserow (2014). Smith, who will play at Delaware State next season, also won four draw controls to set her senior-year total at 106. She ranks fourth in the SFHS record book in that category, behind current UC Davis player Sophia Gorona (171, 154) and former USC player Sarah Westover (119). 

 

McCullough finished with four saves in Tuesday's finale, bringing her season total to 124. That ranks second in program history, behind only the 164 Maddie Merwin collected in 2014.

 

Okamoto's three total points raised her season total to 74 (26 goals, 48 assists). Her assists total obliterated Gorona's previous Troubie season record of 29, set in 2019. Smith's five points on Tuesday also left her 74 total points for the season. Meanwhile, sophomore Brynley Hodge closed out her season with 73 points (54 goals, 19 assists). Only two Troubies in school history had recorded more than 70 in a season: Ku's 79 in 2008, Gorona's 77 in 2019.

 

Finally, the 14 wins marks the most in Julia Southard's time at the helm, and the most by a Troubadour team since the 2011 squad went 16-5.