SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Junior Ali Tambornini and senior Lauren Charter each scored four goals to lead the St. Francis water polo team to a 16-5 victory over Del Oro Thursday night at the Jesuit High school pool.

“I am pretty happy with our approach in the game and being as focused as we were,” said Head Coach Heather Moody. “We did not know anything about Del Oro so we played our style of water polo.”

St. Francis (2-0) scored at least three goals in each quarter and got a strong performance from goalie Elizabeth Minor, who made four saves.

“It felt pretty good,” said Minor, who returned to the pool after missing the last game. “We looked stronger and played as a team.”

In addition to Tambornini and Charter, junior Jennalyn Barthels scored three times and junior Maggie Oys added two goals. Sophomores Sam Reinl and Sally Ferguson each scored in the contest as did senior Annie Rafeld.

“It was a team attack with a lot of people scoring and hitting that open position, being there and confident to take the shot,” said Moody.

St. Francis will travel to Mountain View, Calif., on Friday for the two-day St. Francis Autumn Invitational. The Troubadours open with a game against Castilleja at 1:50 p.m. at the St. Francis pool. The winner returns to the pool at 5:10 p.m., while the loser will play at 4:20 p.m. The opponent in the second game will be the winner-loser of the Clovis-Saratoga matchup.

“It is a big test for us,” said Moody. “We open with Castilleja. Last year was a one point game we ended up winning. It will be really competitive. Hopefully tonight gets us rolling into what we need to do this weekend.”

The Head Coach for Castilleja is Brenda Villa, a former USA water polo teammate of Moody’s.

“She is an Ex-teammate, friend, roommate, all the above,” said Moody. “The girls know about it. It is a competitive environment. Brenda and I are always competitive so it will be fun.”

The Troubadours are ready for the challenge after their 2-0 start.

 “I am excited,” said Minor. “It is supposed to be a hard tournament. Hopefully, we will be able to work together as a team and do as well as we did tonight.”

SF – Tambornini 4, Charter 4, Barthels 3, Oys 2, Reinl, Ferguson, Rafeld. DO – Dutton 2, Wedel, Stanwick, Gazanaga.