GIRLS SOCCER: St. Ignatius Stuns St. Francis in WCAL Semis

St. Ignatius 3, St. Francis 1

The Star: The St. Ignatius midfield. Already down one goal entering the second half, the Wildcats played loose and were rewarded in the second 40 minutes of play. St. Francis (14-3-3, 8-2-2 WCAL) played without two key members of its defense and the dangerous SI (12-6-3, 7-2-3) midfield took advantage. Senior Hannah Farr and junior Kate Bettinger both unloaded perfectly placed strikes into the top right corner of the cage. Farr tied the score at 1-1 in the 61^st minute. After a second SI goal deflected its way behind the St. Francis keeper, Bettinger iced the game 10 minutes later with a beautiful scoring shot of her own. SI will play Thursday evening against No. 1 seeded Archbishop Mitty for the WCAL tournament title.

The Turning Point: A 10-minute span in the second half swung the momentum and eventual win into the visitors corner. SI scored off two deep shots and received a favorable bounce off a Lancers defender on the other goal, erasing a 1-0 St. Francis lead in a matter of minutes. St. Francis opened the scoring in the 15^th minute off a well executed set play. A hand ball call against SI set up the early opportunity. Freshman Megan Keeth struck the ball into the box where Ali Jones ripped a shot off the SI keeper. The rebound was tapped in by freshman Annie Kingman to put the Lancers ahead,1-0.

The Quotes: "It’s hard to beat a good team three times." — St. Francis head coach Dawn Hill said after SI rallied to defeat St. Francis 3-1 on Tuesday afternoon. St. Francis had won the teams first two meetings both by the score of 2-1 in the regular season. “They had two great shots ,”Hill said. We’ll take a couple days off and get ready for CCS.”

SI head coach Carlos Escobar was thrilled after his team broke through against a strong St. Francis team.
“We came out really, really flat,’ Escobar said. “We pressed them in the second half and were able to make some things happen. Those two goals were both world class finishes. We’re very excited about our playoff prospects going forward.”

What's Next? St. Francis will rest up and get ready for the announcement of the Central Coast Section playoffs on Sunday. St. Francis will begin first round action next Tuesday or Wednesday. If the Lancers receive a first round bye, quarterfinal play takes place on Saturday, Feb. 26.

Bottom Line: St. Francis controlled the ball and the pace in the first half by using quick, accurate passing in the midfield to hold down the dangerous SI midfielders. Several chances popped up in the end of the first half and throughout the second stanza, but the home team couldn’t find a way to finish. Senior forward Cynthia Garcia hit the cross bar late in the second half, signaling the end for any hopes of a last ditch comeback attempt.

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