SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The St. Francis junior varsity soccer team finished off the season strong by winning four of their last five to post a 12-7 record on the season. They showed great improvement on the field over the course of the season.

“The chemistry between the girls was the most inspiring thing,” said Head Coach Justin Boyer. “For a year when we didn’t have a ton of success results-wise, we grew a lot as a team throughout the year. We grew both physically and emotionally moving forward.”

The Troubadours opened the season with a strong showing in the Cal Spring Classic varsity tournament before posting a 5-1 victory over Christian Brothers and a 3-1 win over Rio Americano. They opened league play with two one-goal losses to Pleasant Grove and Davis but then won nine of their final 12 games.

Freshman Taylor Simpson led the team with 19 goals and tied for team-best honors with 11 assists.

“Taylor was a nice addition to the team as a freshman,” said Boyer. “She has a very bright future in this sport. She is very driven and she is goal hungry. But we made sure she did not get tunnel vision and spread the ball and allow things to happen for her off the ball. Her assist total continued to climb during the second half.”

Sophomore Savannah Tijerino-Santos finished 14 goals and six assists, the second-best totals on the team.

“Savannah was awesome as well,” said Boyer. “She and Taylor really fed each other. She is another girl that is a true talent. Her leadership both on and off the field was big for us, as well as her unselfish play.”

Ariana Avila was voted the team Most Valuable Player by her teammates. She had seven goals and team-best tying 11 assists.

“Ariana was tremendous in the attacking half and was one of our assist leaders,” said Boyer. “She was out wide most of the time and she created a lot of opportunities for herself and others. She was commendable.”

Kaitlyn Hendrickson received the Coaches Award.

“Kaitlyn was one of captains and as a goalkeeper she does everything you ask as far a game management and quarterbacking the field,” said Boyer. “She did an outstanding job taking on those things and really being able to take it to the next level. Her peers had tremendous respect for her. She did a great job of being a team leader.”

Freshman Sydney Vandrgrift was selected as the team’s Offensive MVP.

“She really made a statement for herself and led more by example than anything else,” said Boyer. “But her peers really recognized that and voted her offensive MVP. She did a great identifying the gaps and finding the through balls and creating great chances unselfishly. She comes in and has a tremendous work rate and doing more than her share to add more to the game and training.”

Sophomore Darby Carillo was the team’s Defensive MVP.

“If you judge size of the fight in the dog rather than the size of the dog in the fight she is one to keep,” said Boyer. “She comes in with a pit bull mentality and drew some of the toughest assignments of the year. Her peers recognized how much she shined in those moments. I can’t explain how much grit she has in everything she does.”

Offensive MVP – Sydney Vandegrift
Defensive MVP – Darby Carrillo
Overall MVP – Ariana Avila
Coaches Award – Kaitlyn Hendrickson