June 1 – TRAVERSE CITY – Traverse City St. Francis won its first girls soccer independent district championship on Saturday with a 5-0 defeat of Cheboygan.
San Francisco last won a women’s soccer title as part of a cooperative with Traverse City Christian nearly a decade ago.
The Gladiators controlled the game against Cheboygan, who generated just five shots on goal against sophomore goalkeeper Paisleigh Upshaw.
Sophomore forward Reese Muma scored a hat trick for the Gladiators, with sophomore Riley Collins adding a goal and two assists, junior Lilianna David scoring a goal and an assist, and sophomore Sidney Peters assisting on two goals.
“We did a great job controlling the ball, getting it wide and getting the defense to switch sides,” Gladiators coach Scott Conway said.
The Glads led 3-0 at halftime and faced every healthy player on their roster.
No. 8-ranked Francis (18-1-2) moves on from the Division 3 postseason to face No. 14 Freeland (13-4-5) in the regionals on Tuesday at the Brookwood Athletic Complex in Clare as the second game of a doubleheader there. The 5 p.m. game features Fremont (15-4-1) and Tri County (17-7), followed by St. Francis and Freeland at 7 p.m.
“Let’s keep this train moving on the tracks,” Conway said. “Hopefully we can maintain this momentum.”
San Francisco last won a girls soccer district in the 2015-16 season as part of the TC Liberty co-op, which defeated Grayling 1-0 in overtime for the crown and then lost to Freeland 4-1 in regional play.
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UP NEXT: The Blue Devils (10-6-4) play Midland at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Cadillac.
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