Water Polo Finishes 10th at St. Francis Autumn Invite

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ATHERTON, Calif. – Junior Emalee Lavezzo scored the game-winning goal in the fourth quarter to help St. Francis defeat Los Altos 8-7 on Saturday at the St. Francis Autumn Invitational. The win advanced the Troubadours to the consolation championship.

“We came out really strong,” said Lavezzo. “We had our battles but we came back. Scoring the game-winning goal gave us the momentum to block the last goal in the final 30 seconds. It was a really cool and everyone is excited.”

The Troubadours led early 3-1 on a pair of goals by sophomore Caroline Wilkins and a single goal by Zoe Sloat, who finished with two goals. The game was close throughout as SF led 5-3 at the half but the Vikings fought back by scoring two goals in the third.

Wilkins added three more goals in the contest, finishing with five goals with two assists.

“Caroline really stepped up today,” said Moody. “With Kendall being out, it forced Caroline to step up and really fill that void. She did a great job. I am really excited to see that and the potential of having them all in the pool together.”

Wilkins scored eight goals overall on the weekend.

St. Francis faced off against Castilleja in the ninth-place game but lost 12-5.

“We got down 4-0 and never really got back,” said Moody. “The next step is making sure from game to game we are ready to go. It comes with growth.”

Overall, the defensive improvement was the theme of the weekend and the goal for the future.

“We all have to play our defense to make it easier for the goalie,” said Kate Watley, who played all four halves on Saturday and made a combined 14 saves. “Defense is always something we have to work on and changes because of the opponent.”

Watley made eight saves in the win over Los Altos and combined on a shutout on Friday.

“This weekend we got better playing as a team and thinking about team defense,” said Moody.

St. Francis played at Franklin on Tuesday at 4:45 p.m. at Wackford Aquatic Compex.

St. Francis 8, Los Altos 7

SF – Wilkins 5, Sloat 2, Lavezzo.

Castilleja 12, St. Francis 5

SF – Garcia 2, Wilkins, Lavezzo, Slater.