GRANITE BAY, Calif. – Senior Zia Smith led her team in total points and draw controls, helping St. Francis explode from a slow start offensively and dismantle Granite Bay by a 17-4 final in the varsity nightcap of Thursday's Sierra Foothill League girls' lacrosse doubleheader.
The Troubadours win their third straight – during which they have outscored opponents by a combined 53-5 – to improve to 8-2 both overall and in league play. The Grizzlies slip to 3-8 for the year and 3-5 in SFL action.
Smith scored four goals and assisted on two others for six total points, scooped up seven of St. Francis' 18 total draw controls, and posted three caused turnovers. Junior Keira Miles added five goals and four DCs, senior Olivia Hamm contributed a hat trick with three DCs and four ground balls. Senior Karly Okamoto and Jade Abalateo chipped in another two goals apiece.
Freshman Tristan Garcia totaled four steals, including three interceptions – one of which turned into an immediate goal at the 9:01 mark in the third quarter, interrupted what had become a brief Granite Bay comeback effort. The four takeaways matched that of junior Sara Ellis.
St. Francis managed just one goal for almost the entirety of the first quarter until Miles stuck her first goal of the game with just 18 ticks left in the frame. However, Miles went on to hit two more shots in the 17th and 22nd minutes of the game as the Troubies increased their lead to 8-0 by the halftime break.
The Grizzlies found the back of the net three times early in the third quarter, including two off the draw at the 10:35 and 9:48 marks, but the Troubies put up five to invoke the running clock. Jade Abalateo scored back-to-back from the eight-meter arc, first on a slow whistle with 7:39 to go, then another on an illegal check three minutes later.
St. Francis allowed a somewhat fluke goal to start the fourth, when Yasaman Johnson picked up a dropped ball behind the cage and capitalized on the turnover just 51 ticks into the quarter. But the Troubies answered with four straight to finish the game. A Cami Zucker ground ball transitioned to an Okamoto-to-Smith counterattack at the nine-minute mark. Okamoto drew a shooting space foul and buried the eight-meter chance with 7:26 to go. Smith set up Miles from the 12-meter mark at the 4:55 mark, then scored the final goal on another eight-meter opportunity. Okamoto actually drew the foul and took the free position on the far left hashmark, but opted to pass to Smith for an unlikely crease roll in the final minute of the game.
Meanwhile on the defensive end, sophomore goalkeeper Claire Gabri came up with four saves while getting the help of seven total steals from Ellis, Zucker and Nevaeh Gavino in the backfield.
St. Francis varsity's win followed an 11-0 shutout loss for the Troubie jayvees.
Both lacrosse squads return to action on Monday night for a road SFL game at Davis, originally scheduled for March 25 but pushed back by almost two weeks due to scheduling conflicts.
