The undefeated St. Francis girls soccer team is on the cusp of clinching the West Catholic Athletic League for a fifth year in a row following a win over second-place St. Ignatius 2-0 Wednesday.
“We talked about that today in the locker room before we kicked off today that today would be a foot in the door in clinching the league,” St. Francis coach Carlos Barboza said.
A motivated St. Francis scored twice in the first half, starting with a goal from forward Maya Meltz with 31 minutes left and a scruffy goal from a corner two minutes later from defender Mireille Del Santo. Meltz scored after St. Francis played a long ball to the right side that was crossed into Meltz, who finished it first time. Barboza noted St. Ignatius had a fairly high line in the first half, allowing St. Francis’ fullbacks to run into space behind and allowed the midfielders to hit long balls over the top of the defensive line.
“Not only is that a big moment to see, but also being able to play a perfect cross away from the keeper and runners crashing at the right time was a fantastic overall play,” Barboza said of the first goal.
The Wildcats pushed more players forward in the second half to try to get back into the game, but could not create big chances against the Lancers, who controlled possession and tempo. St. Francis had several other chances to score in the second half, including a shot from forward Penelope Correa that hit the crossbar after a deflected save from the St. Ignatius keeper.
The Lancers entered the game 8-0-1 in league play, with the Wildcats 8-1-1, and a chance to pull into first place with a victory. St. Ignatius (12-4-1) was the only team St. Francis (15-0-1) had not recorded a win against this season previously, with the two recording a 0-0 draw Jan. 17, the third game in five days during that stretch for the Lancers.
“Today we looked more fresh and more dominant, so I think we deserved the win,” Barboza said.
While the team is undefeated, it has had close games early in the season that were won late off a set piece or counterattack.
“I think even though the record shows that it’s been smooth sailing, I would say there have been moments that have really tested this group, and they’ve matched that test,” Barboza said.
St. Francis’ next game is Saturday against Sacred Heart Cathedral, with a win assuring it a league title for the fifth straight year ahead of the Central Coast Section playoffs later this month.
