MODESTO, Calif. – The St. Francis water polo team rolled past Enochs 22-2 in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs at Johansen High School Saturday afternoon.

“We are really excited,” said senior Annie Rafeld, who scored two goals and added an assist. “We are taking it one game at a time. I really want us to get to the final game and win everything.”

St. Francis jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the first quarter but Head Coach Heather Moody was not happy with how the team was playing.

“Heather told us we had to start pressing,” said Rafeld. “After she whipped us into shape, we implemented what she told us to do.”

The Troubadours extended the lead to 8-0 before Enochs scored their first goal of the contest. St. Francis finished the quarter strong to lead 13-2 at the half.

“We really came together after the first quarter,” said senior Caroline Urkov, who scored twice and had four assists. “Heather said we needed to pick it up and had to play our style no matter what the score was. It really clicked for us and we had a better rest of the game.”

Moody said the team not playing to the game plan but quickly got on track.

“We were a little slow in the first quarter implementing the game plan,” said Moody. “After that, we built on each quarter leading into Tuesday’s game.”

Junior Sam Reinl led the team with five goals, while senior Lauren Charter tallied three in the win. Five players found the cage two times including recent junior varsity promotion Kobe Carpenter in her first varsity game. Juniors Kira Chavez and Julie Zanobini also recorded two goals each. Junior Ali Tambornini and sophomores Frances Babour, Sally Ferguson and JV callup Hannah Warren also scored.

“It feels good to win this first game to keep the momentum going,” said Urkov. “Each game gets progressively harder and hopefully we end up in the finals against Davis.”

Junior Elle Minor had a strong game in the cage with seven saves. Sophomore Maddy Vine made her varsity debut, making five saves.

St. Francis continues quarterfinals against Lodi, who was a 13-3 winner over Rocklin. The game will take place at Tokay High School at 2 p.m. on Tuesday.

 “It is going to be a competitive game and we will need to make sure we use Monday’s practice to get ready for them,” said Moody.

SF – Reinl 5, Charter 3, Carpenter 2, Chavez 2, Rafeld 2, Urkov 2, Zanobini 2, Barbour, Tambornini, Ferguson, Warren. E – Goulding, Lopez.