SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Miranda Ferguson shot 3-for-3, Addison Hutchcraft tallied six assists and goalkeeper Sophia Santsche-Chavez logged 14 saves to help St. Francis hold on to a 9-8 win over Whitney in the girls' varsity portion of a Sierra Foothill League water polo quadrupleheader Wednesday night at Jesuit High.

The Troubadours improve to 15-7 overall and 6-3 in SFL play, holding an outright third place in the conference standings. The Wildcats remain the only winless team in the league at 0-10.

Abigail Benavidez added two more goals, with Santsche-Chavez, Frannie Wells, Audrey Ellis and Emma Dietrich providing one apiece. SF held an 8-5 lead at the halftime break, including Santsche-Chavez' buzzer-beater from well beyond mid-tank in the second frame. However, the Troubies shot just 1-for-11 in the second half, with Ferguson's lob at 5:08 in the third accounting for the only change to the scoreboard.

In fact, Whitney answered St. Francis goal-for-goal for the first 12 minutes of play. Dietrich drew first blood with a perimeter goal in the opening minute, but Wildcat sophomore Sophia Mersereau won a battle at set to equalize at 1-1. Wells delivered a goal from three after the exclusion expired on a 6-on-5 chance, only for Barrett Huiskens to score on a rebound and putback, tying the game at 2-2 with 1:17 to go.

The pattern continued in the second. Ferguson drew a five-meter foul, and Benavidez converted the penalty shot, but Huiskens tied the contest just 19 seconds later. At 4:55, Ferguson completed the power play off of her own drawn exclusion but Meadow Dettner finished a Whitney 6-on-5 at 3:29, making it 4-4. Ellis found the back of the net as the shot clock expired with 2:09 left, only for Sophia Jahn to capitalize on yet another Wildcat power play at the 1:40 mark.

St. Francis then scored four straight from the one-minute mark in the second to Ferguson's hat trick goal early in the third. Ferguson buried a 6-on-5 attempt with 1:08 left in the half, then Benavidez stole a pass to thwart a Whitney player-up advantage after the next restart. The newly named Academic All-American took the ball straight to the opposite cage for the seventh Troubie goal.

Then in the final seconds of the half, Santsche-Chavez blocked a Natalia Benavidez shot on one end. With not enough time to walk the ball up to mid-course, the Troubie senior goalkeeper launched a ball from about three-quarter tank, accurately enough to both elude her Wildcat counterpart but also finish below the crossbar.

During St. Francis' scoreless stretch for the final 12 minutes of the game, Santsche-Chavez posted six saves. The Troubies also caught a break when N. Benavidez had a relatively clean look at an equalizer, but clanged her shot bar out. Ferguson raced to the ball to collect the rebound and prevent any Wildcat follow-up. Whitney's final possession came up shy, with Hutchcraft winning the ball and killing 29 seconds to protect the victory.

Following the varsity thriller was a 19-8 win for the Whitney junior varsity, although that score belies the achievement by the Troubies. In stark contrast to the 20-2 Wildcat victory in the two teams' previous meeting, St. Francis matched its guest to a 2-2 tie in the first quarter, then battled back from a 4-2 deficit to a 5-5 tie at halftime. Molly Suggs began the comeback with her goal from the five spot with 2:25 left, then Ava Jack hit back-to-back goals out of set to even the proceedings at 5-5.

Unfortunately, Whitney exploded for eight goals in the third quarter and tacked on another six in the fourth. Still, Jack finished with a career-high five goals, freshman goalie Sasha Michon notched a career-best 11 saves and a steal, and Maya Wenceslao tallied six steals plus an assist to Kendal Douglas. Savannah Hamilton netted the remaining goal, walking up then firing crosscage from four with 33 ticks remaining in the first quarter.

St. Francis JV will compete in the two-day Rio JV Classic this Friday and Saturday, then rejoin with varsity for the regular-season home finale against Del Oro on Monday. That date, also designated as Senior Day after the cancellation of the Oct. 29 Bella Vista doubleheader, has new start times: JV will begin at 3:30 rather than 4 p.m., with varsity slated for 4:45 instead of 5 p.m. The revised schedule will allow the Troubadours to insert their Senior Day ceremony between the two girls' games.