SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Senior center-defender Abigail Benavidez scored five goals while senior goalkeeper Sophia Santsche-Chavez tallied 12 saves, helping St. Francis hold on to a 9-7 win over Oak Ridge in Sierra Foothill League girls' water polo action Monday.

The Troubadours improve to 9-4 for the season and pull into a tie for second place with Davis at 4-1 in SFL play. The Trojans slip to 7-11 overall and 1-5 in league.

Benavidez also had an assist, a steal and three drawn exclusions. Senior Piper Brostrom added two goals with an assist, with Addison Hutchcraft and Audrey Ellis each netting one.

St. Francis never trailed in the contest, but the two teams battled to ties at 1-1, 2-2 and 4-4 in the first half, the last of which came on a Drake Chompff bomb from well beyond the five-meter marker with 2:09 to go before the halftime break. The Troubies answered this with Benavidez drawing a kickout, then having Erin Maeng find Brostrom for the power-play goal at 1:47. Then 70 seconds later, Benavidez hit her fourth goal of the game from set, putting SF up by a 6-4 margin to end the half.

Santsche-Chavez totaled five saves in the third, plus a steal against Chompff near the left post of the cage. Meanwhile, Brostrom handled setting duties, with her fourth shot of the period finding its way in to boost the Troubie lead to its largest point, 7-4. Still, Chompff cut the margin to two with another long-range shot with 38 seconds left in the third quarter, then junior McKenna Michelin halved the deficit to 7-6 with her goal on the first possession of the fourth.

Benavidez matched Chompff's perimeter abilities with a long goal of her own with 4:58 left. Then at 4:31, Michelin was called for an exclusion. Although the Troubies did not convert the ensuing 6-on-5 opportunity, this moment proved critical later when it was discovered that Michelin should have been fouled out of the game at that point. Two minutes of game play, including a Chompff five-meter penalty shot, a successful lob from Maeng, and a Chompff power play were recalled. The game clock reset from 2:23 back to 4:31, with the score reset from an 9-8 SF lead to the 8-6 edge.

In the replayed minutes, Ellis' shot deflected off a field block and into the net, increasing the Troubie advance to 9-6 with 3:17 left. Santsche-Chavez stopped a Elle Sena shot at the three-minute mark, but Holly Lozano collected the rebound and planted a shot into the now vacated side of the cage, bringing the score to 9-7.

Maeng ran down an Oak Ridge counterattack and Santsche-Chavez smothered a Chompff 6-on-5 attempt down the stretch, helping St. Francis keep the Trojans from reducing the two-goal margin.

Other key contributions belonged to freshman Emma Dietrich, who had assists to Hutchcraft and Benavidez twice in the first half; and senior Miranda Ferguson, who drew the five-meter foul that led to Benavidez' successful penalty shot in the final seconds of the first quarter.

The SF-OR varsity game was the second of a league quadrupleheader with Jesuit that began with the Troubies' junior varsity dropping a 14-2 decision to the Trojans. Ava Jack scored an outside shot while assisting Savannah Hamilton on the other, both taking place in the third quarter. Gabriella Philip totaled four steals in the effort.

The Troubadours return to action at home against Davis on Wednesday. Varsity plays at 6 p.m. with JV following at 7 p.m.