Lacrosse Wins Battle of St. Francis

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MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – Sophomore Jade Borg and senior Sarah Westover combined for nine goals to lead the St. Francis lacrosse team to a 13-4 win over St. Francis Mountain View Friday night in the first game of two-day trip to the Bay Area.

“It shows us how good we can be,” said Head Coach Julia Southard. “We are capable of great things on this team. We have a roster full of talented athletes, empowered young women who like to battle every day in practice. When we get to games, it is time to go to work. They strung together skills and passion tonight. It will be the key to our success this season.”

St. Francis (2-0) fell behind 1-0 to start the game but rallied to score seven unanswered goals to take control of the game. Westover scored four times, drawing the attention of the Lancer defense and opening opportunities for her teammates.

“I have been having conversations with Westy that she needs to take over in the beginning of games,” said Southard. “To her credit, she is a very humble athlete. I am trying to get her more takes and to go to the goal so she can open up her teammates. That message finally resonated tonight.”

The Troubadours built the lead to 9-4 at the half and then shutout the Lancers in the second.

“To keep our momentum we had to prove to ourselves that we can do this,” said Westover. “We are St. Francis lacrosse and we are awesome. It was all our intensity and staying pumped up. This win means so much more than a win. It was capitalizing on achieving our goals no matter the situation and we did that tonight.”

Borg scored a team-high five goals with two assists for the Troubies with Westover netting four goals with three assists. 

“Jade Borg was really great behind the net for us in transition,” said Southard.

Junior Rachel Wick added two goals and Libby Price and Emily Vielhauer, who had a team-best three ground balls, tallied single goals.

Junior Maggie Pinkston and sophomore Kate Macinityre combined for the win in the net with 10 total saves.

“The girls have really taken to our zone and we shut their team down tonight,” said Southard. “It is 100 percent buy in from the defensive unit and they are shutting teams down with it.”

Southard credited her seniors for setting the tone for the win in the preseason.

“We are led by a tremendous group of seniors who have been grinding all season to get us where we are,” said Southard. “If this is just the beginning, I can’t wait to see what the season is going to look like.”

St. Francis plays Menlo-Atherton on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in the second game of the weekend.

“This is probably the best win of my career,” said Sarah Westover. “We all played as a team and were so connected. We played with instinct and to finally put it on the field was amazing.”

The Junior Varsity team (1-1) opens play on Saturday at Noon.

St. Francis (Sac) 13, St. Francis (MV) 4

SF – Borg 5, Westover 4, Wick 2, Price, Vielhauer.