SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Marissa Ow, Monet Zauner and Miley Blough each scored second-half goals to lead St. Francis to a 3-0 shutout of Christian Brothers in the varsity half of a non-league girls' soccer doubleheader at Cristo Rey's Adamson Family Sports Complex Saturday afternoon.
The varsity win followed an even more dominant 5-0 victory for the Troubadours' JV Gold, with freshman Bridget Beard scoring the initial goal before assisting on two others.
St. Francis varsity extends its unbeaten streak to five games, improving to 12-4-4 on the year. Gold now holds a similar 12-3-4 record for the season. Saturday marked the last non-league game of the regular season for the Troubie soccer program.
Ow broke the scoreless tie in the 44th minute when Norah White sent a cross from the left side. The Saint Mary's commit had taken one of the Troubies' 18 shots in the first half, but this time found the back of the net. Zauner made it a 2-0 game when she followed up a longer shot from Tallas Schaedler. Falcon goalkeeper Veronica O'Neill made the save on the initial blast, but Zauner stood by the right post for the putback in the 54th minute.
Blough converted a penalty kick for the insurance goal in the 69th minute, thanks to a handball violation in the box.
Equally impressive was the St. Francis defense, which held its guests to just one shot: Emma Leonard's attempt in the fourth minute, which junior keeper Millie Katzeff recorded the save. Katzeff and Rabinovitz combined for the shutout, the 11th clean sheet for St. Francis this season.
In contrast to the varsity contest, which did not see a goal until the second half, JV Gold spread out five goals throughout the game en route to its first shutout since blanking Davis on January 15. Cali Chambers turned a Hazel Pryor throw-in into the first goal less than three minutes after the opening kick. Beard doubled the margin to 2-0 in the 33rd, running an initial feed from Sophia Kennedy-Contreras up the left side before turning into the box for the score.
The Troubies managed eight shots in the first 12 minutes of the second half, including three from Mariko Palmieri. Instead, sophomore Anna George beat a tough angle from the right corner to find the inside of the cage in the 53rd minute. Then four minutes later, Pryor got tripped up just outside the box along the right side, with Kennedy-Contreras sending the free kick into the net to pad the lead to 4-0 with 23:30 left.
Finally, Paityn Lowery converted a Beard cross from the left side in the 78th to increase the SF lead to five. Lowery was arguably the most dangerous Troubie attacker in the final 20 minutes of the game, but ran into some tough luck. Charlotte Kryski sent a long pass from the right side in the 63rd to Lowery's feet, only for Falcon freshman keeper Sonia Montes to swoop in for a spectular save. Lowery also got a strong touch on a ball in the 70th, but the shot caromed off the left post.
Sophomore Alyssa Bezce posted four saves in net, although the key defensive play in preserving the shutout belonged to junior co-captain Gabby Federico. On the next CB possession following the Kennedy-Contreras set piece, Falcon freshman Olivia Edgett engaged in a foot race against the charging Becze. Edgett won that battle, leaving an empty net at which to shoot. That's when Federico raced in and scooped out the attempt for the team save.
All three St. Francis teams return to Sierra Foothill League action on Tuesday with a tripleheader at Del Oro. JV Red opens the set at 3:30 p.m., with varsity (5:30 p.m.) and JV Gold (7:15 p.m.) following. DO charges admission for home soccer via GoFan (https://gofan.co/event/5535443?schoolId=CA22532).
