SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Goalkeeper Sophia Santsche-Chavez posted a season-high 23 saves while fellow seniors Miranda Ferguson and Abigail Benavidez teamed up for the game-winning goal with 1:20 left in overtime, leading St. Francis to a 7-6 win over Del Oro in the girls' varsity portion of a Sierra Foothill League water polo quadrupleheader at Jesuit High Monday night.
The Troubadours improve to 16-7 overall and 7-3 in league play as they head into the final week of the regular season.
Monday's contest also become St. Francis' home finale upon the cancellation of the October 29 date with Bella Vista. The team honored seven seniors prior to the first sprint: Santsche-Chavez, Ferguson, Benavidez, Piper Brostrom, Clare Krengel, Erin Maeng and Addison Hutchcraft.
Hutchcraft led the Troubies with two goals, with Benavidez, Maeng, Ferguson, Frannie Wells and even Santsche-Chavez each netting one. Benavidez and Ferguson each finished with a team-leading four steals, while Wells and Ferguson each had two assists.
However, Santsche-Chavez stole the show with her highest save total since tallying 24 against Oak Ridge in the 2023 season opener. She stopped seven shots in the first quarter to keep SF within striking range as the offense struggled to just one goal – Hutchcraft's bomb from the perimeter just 22 seconds into the game – on eight attempts. Santsche-Chavez added four more early in the second, while Ferguson, Hutchcraft and Maeng found the back of the net to craft a 4-1 lead. Then the senior goalie scored one of her own from nearly half-course, extending that margin to 5-1 going into the halftime break.
Del Oro managed to slowly chip away at the lead, with senior Simone Shepard managing to brute-force three goals from set at the 6:26, 5:01 and 0:52 marks in the frame. The Golden Eagles then equalized and took the lead courtesy of back-to-back five-meter fouls within a span of 27 seconds, drawn by Shepard and Elise Brubaker. With 54 seconds and now trailing by a goal, St. Francis called timeout. Eightteen seconds later, Wells scored bar-in from three, tying the game at 6-6.
DO followed with a timeout of its own. Shepard immediately fired a long shot that clanged off the cage, but the Golden Eagles rebounded with no shot clock, meaning they could maintain possession for the remainder of regulation before scoring the winner. But with 13 seconds left, Wells came up with a key interception on the perimeter. SF did not manage to get a shot off in time, taking the game to overtime.
The game-winner arrived after more than four minutes of scoreless ball in the extra frame. The Troubies enjoyed their best chance to claim the initial lead when Benavidez stole possession from the point, then swam half the length of the pool on a counterattack – only to have DO goalie Kate Luzuriaga ready for the stop. Instead, an Emma Dietrich steal gave SF the ball with about 90 seconds left before the game would go to sudden victory. Ferguson fed the ball to Benavidez at two-meters for the go-ahead strike. Benavidez followed with a steal with 17 seconds left, then Troubie head coach Gaby Hawkins used her overtime timeout.
Benavidez drew one ordinary foul after another, which slowed the progress of the clock, but she did not surrender the ball. Instead, she drew an exclusion with three seconds left, allowing her to pop the ball and kill that remaining time.
Monday's win marks the first time St. Francis has gone past regulation this season, with the last overtime game being the 11-10 victory at Rio Americano almost exactly one year prior.
The SF varsity fared better than its younger sisters on junior varsity, which lost to DO by an 11-1 final in Monday's opener. Sophomore Savannah Hamilton put the Troubies on the board with just 1:05 left in the game.
Both St. Francis water polo teams return to action on Wednesday at Oak Ridge for the penultimate SFL game of the season. Varsity plays at 6 p.m., with JV to follow at 7 p.m.
