SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Senior Ari Miggins made 10 saves in the opening half to help St. Francis to a 9-4 victory over Rio Americano on Tuesday night.

“It feels a lot better than it did last year,” said Miggins. “I definitely have more skill set and am stronger in certain aspects than I was before. It is easier for me to go play the first quarter without seeing how they are playing or shooting. I am lot more confident going in the water.”

Kendall Houck scored the first of her three goals to help SF take the early lead. She added four assists to lead the offense attack. Caroline Wilkins scored the second goal as SF led after the first quarter. The Troubies added three more goals including scores by Kobe Carpenter, Houck and Malia Armot to lead 5-2 at the break.

“Ari really stepped up and started the game off on a solid note,” said Head Coach Heather Moody. “Both goalies are comfortable with their skill level and the complement each other. It is a lot of fun seeing them split the game. But Ari started really strong and came up with some big saves. It helped us take the lead when we started pushing the counter and scored some goals.”

The Raiders stayed in the game with two third quarter goals but SF answered with three of their own. Senior Natalie Imboden scored with Carpenter adding her second and Zoe Sloat contributing a score to push the lead to 8-4.

“One of our words is tenacity,” said Moody. “It is important to stick with our tenacity with our defense and really establish out team attack and pushing the counter and hitting the open players.”

Goalie Kate Watley, who added six saves, held Rio scoreless in the fourth quarter and Houck sealed the game with her third goal.

“We need to work on our offense and defense in practice and bring our energy levels back up,” said Carpenter.

St. Francis plays in the Capital Challenge at Woodcreek on Friday. They open against Buchanan at 11 a.m.

“We need to work and play more as a team,” said Moody. “It is going to be important when we play Buchanan in our first game on Friday. They are a Clovis team so they will be fast and strong. We have to make sure we are ready to go and play as a group.”

St. Francis 9, Rio Americano 4

SF – Houck 3, Carpenter 2, Arnott, Wilkins, Sloat, Imboden. RA – Cardosa 2, Kerr, Knapp.