St. Francis shuts off St. Ignatius’ attack, scores two quick goals to avenge tie and consolidate control of WCAL
MOUNTAIN VIEW — Two goals, one shot.
It’s an equation that bodes well for the team with the pair of scores. Less so for the squad with only one attempt on net.
As top-ranked St. Francis welcomed in St. Ignatius for a West Catholic Athletic League showdown on Wednesday night in Mountain View, the Lancers employed the formula that has made them so successful this season.
Don’t concede a goal, much less many (or any) shots on frame. And score at least once.
St. Francis got quick goals from Maya Meltz and Mireille Del Santo to establish an early cushion, then the Lancers’ lockdown defense conceded just one harmless shot on a second-half free kick en route to a 2-0 win that all but locked up their fifth straight WCAL title.
“The girls were super focused,” St. Francis coach Carlos Barboza said. “They were upset about the tie the first time around. So I could tell they were focused since Monday. We talked a lot about putting away our chances, knowing normally against SI, you don’t get a ton of them. And so obviously they executed and put the game away fairly early. I felt like there was a good 25 minutes that first half where we were dominant.”
The Lancers’ (15-0-1, 9-0-1) only blemish this season came at the hands of SI (14-2-1, 8-2-1) when the Wildcats tied St. Francis 0-0 on Jan. 17 in San Francisco.
SI coach Daire O’Connor knew to prepare his team for a motivated Lancers bunch this time around.
It didn’t matter.
“They were very motivated, weren’t they, to come out from the start there, because we had to work extremely hard to take points off them at home,” O’Connor said. “We worked so hard in the first game. And we talked about it, we prepped it. We knew St. Francis was going to come out really, really strong. They got the two goals in the first half, and then we knew we needed a big effort to get back into the game. And you know what? They’re a really quality side all around.”
St. Francis took the initial lead in the ninth minute when Kendall Koury delivered a beautiful cross into the box from out wide, finding Maya Meltz for a clinical volleyed finish.
Two minutes later, a corner kick from Lynn Byun found itself muddled amid the feet of several players just off the goal line. Mireille Del Santo seized the opportunity amid the chaos and calmly chipped the ball into the back of the net.
“We did a good job possessing and moving them around,” Barboza said. “The cross was perfect, and our runs in the box were perfect. And we’ve been working on set pieces quite a bit and spending time knowing that as the season comes down to the last couple of weeks, teams are organized, right? And they know how we play. And so being able to get a goal here and there on set pieces is sometimes going to win us the game.”
With two games left in the regular season, both teams are turning their eyes toward the Central Coast Section playoffs. St. Francis is a near-lock to be the No. 1 seed in the Division I bracket, while St. Ignatius will likely pull down a seed in the middle of the top division.
For the Lancers, the goal is simple. Don’t lose.
They’ve been pretty good at that so far.
“Closing out WCAL with as many wins as possible, making sure we don’t get any losses,” Barboza said. “Goal No. 2 for us is to go into the playoffs healthy. We have spent almost the entire season without between four and six players every game, and we now are at 21 of 23 back. So we’re almost there. And then the third one is to make it to that state game. I’m not overlooking CCS, but the overall goal is CCS final and then getting into that CIF NorCal and state final.”
St. Ignatius has more modest aspirations, but the Cats are aiming high all the same.
“Feeling confident,” O’Connor said. “Yeah, they’re just doing incredible. They’re very resilient, and they really are buying into the team identity and culture this year, where they’re very connected with each other on and off the field. So I think that’ll help us go deep in the playoffs. But that first game is going to be very important, so we’ll have to see who we’re ranked up against there.”
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