SACRAMENTO, Calif. – St. Francis earned the No. 8 seed and will host No. 9-seeded Turlock for the first round of the 2026 Sac-Joaquin Section Division I girls' soccer championship tournament, the SJS office announced Wednesday. The playoff opener will take place at 3 p.m. on Friday at Cristo Rey's Adamson Family Sports Complex.

The Troubadours finished the regular season with a 14-5-4 overall record, and placed fourth in the Sierra Foothill League with 22 points (6-4-4). The Bulldogs enter the postseason at 11-9.

Offensively, senior and Fresno State commit Miley Blough leads St. Francis with 14 goals and six assists for 34 total points, including a 2-1-5 scoring line against then-unbeaten Colfax. Sophomore Monet Zauner follows with nine goals despite playing in just 16 games. Another future collegian, Holland Sperber, had six goals in 10 games before being sidelined by injury. Azaria Agbodike, Marissa Ow, Lily Hall, Brynn Baker, Norah White and Evelyn McNearney also have multiple goals this season.

Defensively, goalkeepers Mia Rabinovitz and Millie Katzeff have held opponents to just 15 goals for the year. Rabinovitz served as the primary keeper in 10 games, recording nine shutouts in those appearances. Katzeff, a transfer from Colfax, returned to action in early January and has since handled first-half duties in net. Senior Madeline Squaglia and juniors Lacey Harmon and Charlotte Lippi lead the potent back line that has resulted in a 0.65 opponent scoring average.

Turlock finished second in the Central California Athletic League behind only undefeated Gregori, positioned to host Friday's winner as the tourney's top seed. Three Bulldog players have cracked double digits in goals this season: freshman Julissa Perez (14), sophomore Makenli Watt (13) and Alondra Medel (12), with Medel also leading her team with eight assists.

Four area league champions hold the top four seeds in the CIF-SJS Division I bracket: undefeated Gregori from the CCAL at No. 1, undefeated Del Oro from the SFL at No. 2, undefeated Inderkum out of the Capital Valley Conference at No. 3, and the Delta League's Pleasant Grove at No. 4.

As expected, all eight Sierra Foothill League qualified for the postseason: Del Oro, St. Francis and 10th-seeded Davis vie in the main D-I draw, with Oak Ridge and Folsom squaring off in play-in game. Meanwhile, No. 2 Rocklin, No. 5 Whitney and No. 8 Granite Bay will vie for the Division II championship.

The Troubadours have captured 15 SJS titles in their history: 1981, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2020 and 2024. The 2019 and 2024 SF teams snared the NorCal Regional titles.

Finally, the 2025-26 season marks the first time that the NorCal and SoCal regionals will combine for a state championship, held on March 13 and 14 at Natomas High.

Tickets for all SJS playoff events are available at https://gofan.co/app/school/CIFSJS. A direct link will be on the page by Thursday, spectators are highly encouraged to purchase in advance to expedite entrance. Links to the various SJS brackets are found at https://www.cifsjs.org/soccer.