SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Four players scored two or more goals and the St. Francis defense made a strong season opening statement in posting a 12-4 victory over St. Mary’s of Stockton Tuesday night.

“It was a great win,” said Head Coach Heather Moody. “It was a good opening to the season and everyone got to play which was huge. It was a good overall team win.”

St. Francis built a 3-0 lead in the first quarter and extended the advantage to 7-1 at the break. Julie Zanobini scored twice in the first along with captain Hannah Milanowski.

“We definitely worked on generating the offense,” said Zanobini. “We all put it into play and really worked as a team and played well together.”

Lauren Charter and Jennalyn Barthels each scored a pair of goals in the second quarter.

Junior Ali Tambornini subbed in goal for Elizabeth Minir, who was out with an illness. She recorded eight saves in her debut at goalie.

 “Ali Tambornini stepped up and covered the cage for us,” said moody. “She had some big saves in there. I really think it had a lot to do with the defense in front of her. It was really great team defense. The shots they got off were what we were dictating. It was exciting overall and we had a good team attack.”

Tambornini enjoyed her time in the goal.

“It was really fun and something I have not got to do before,” said Tambornini.

St. Francis built its lead to 9-1 before St. Mary’s got a pair of goals to cut the deficit to 9-3. But Charter added her third goal of the night and the Troubadours added scores by junior Maggie Oys, junior Kira Chavez and newcomer Madelyn Lavezzo.

Moody said the team spent the Labor Day practice focusing on reading the defense and improvising on offense. She hopes the team can build on that the rest of the season.

“It felt great to get a win because it has been a tough game in the past with St. Mary’s,” said Zanobini.

St. Francis returns to the pool next Thursday against Del Oro. The JV hits the water at 7:15 p.m., followed by the varsity at 8:30 p.m.

SF – Charter 3, Zanobini 2, Barthels 2, Oys 2, Lavezzo, Milanowski, Chavez. SM – Buter 3, Steinkamp.