SACRAMENTO, Calif. – St. Francis surrendered a single goal in the ninth minute of play, which held up in a 1-0 upset loss to Pleasant Grove in Sac-Joaquin Section Division I girls' soccer second-round action at Cristo Rey's Adamson Family Sports Complex Thursday afternoon.

The Troubadours, seeded fourth in the tourney, finish their season with a 14-6-4 overall record. The 12th-seeded Eagles continue their Cinderella run in the SJS postseason, improving to 14-3-2 for the year. PG delivered a 2-1 upset over Davis in Tuesday's first-round contest before claiming its first win over SF in the head-to-head series since January 12, 2022.

The contest's lone goal came on the heels of one of the Troubies' early scoring opportunities, when defender Estella Bacsafra delivered a long serve toward Marissa Ow in the right side of the box. PG goalkeeper Vivian Wheeler swooped in to steal the ball before Ow could reach it, igniting a counterattack that finished with a goal by junior forward Adalynn Alley.

Alley nearly scored a second goal in the 35th when she beat a charging SF goalkeeper Mia Rabinovitz in a foot race. However, junior Miley Blough cleared the ball toward the sideline for a team save, keeping the deficit at just one goal going to the break.

Despite contending with a headwind in the second half, the Troubies managed to challenge the opposing cage while also not allowing any more shots on their own. Ow and Blough each had shots sail high, while defender Maggie Koerwitz had the only attempt on goal for the half. Koerwitz sent a shot over the top that Wheeler snared near her right post.

Oddly, the closest call for an equalizer was a near Eagle own goal three minutes into stoppage time. After Sofia Rabinovitz drew a foul near her own bench, PG had two different players clear the ball out of the mixer – the second of which narrowly missed the frame. The Eagles successfully defended the ensuing corner kick, with time expiring soon after.

Thursday's playoff game wrapped up the career for eight St. Francis seniors: Sophia Hendrix, Sarah Bashore, Bacsafra, Carly Hall, Giuliana Del Guerra, Koerwitz, S. Rabinovitz and Jada Dwyre.