Although the school was on Fall Break part of this past week, athletics were still in full swing.  Field hockey, soccer, golf, cross country, bowling and basketball athletes have all been working hard.  

Field Hockey

Last week, the field hockey team picked up a win against Holy Cross on the road.  Kinsey Morrison scored St. Francis' lone goal midway through the first half. Holy Cross challenged our team throughout the game but our defenders played one of the strongest games of the season and allowed only five shots on goal. Eighth grader Natalie McClain defended the goal and had her first career varsity shutout.

Upon return from Fall Break, the Wyverns played host to public school power Male on Tuesday night.  With the 8th grade team competing in a tournament, the varsity team was without Natalie McClain.  Kate Jones made her debut in the goal for the Wyverns.  Unfortunately the team was not strong enough to hold the Bulldogs at bay, losing 7-0.

Last night, the Wyverns traveled to Butler to take on the Bears for the first time this season. St. Francis jumped on top early, with 9th grader Madeline Case scoring her first career goal five minutes into the match. The Wyverns played one of their best games of the season and controlled the pace of the game from the first whistle. Although Butler had many skilled players, our girls maintained possession for the majority of the game. Page Dabney scored the team's second goal, and the Wyverns cruised to the 2-0 win.

Soccer

The soccer team seems to be on a barnstorming tour throughout the state over the past two weeks.  On Tuesday night last week, they traveled Lexington to take on the Eagles of Lexington Christian.  In what turned out to be a wild night for both teams, the Wyverns fell 2-0. Unfortunately for St. Francis, 9th grade standout Andrew Thurstone was lost for the season with a leg injury, and others left the game a bit battered and bruised as well.  

Last Thursday, the Wyverns traveled to KCD for a rematch of the All "A" Regional Championship against the Bearcats.  St. Francis lost 4-1 in the initial meeting but hoped to get some payback in this match.  However, with a number of key players nursing nagging injuries and others out, St. Francis fell once again 4-0.

Tuesday night, the Wyverns traveled to Union, KY to take on Cooper High School.  In what became a shootout, the Wyverns fought tough with the Jaguars.  Cooper jumped out early on the Wyverns, taking a 5-1 lead into halftime.  But the Wyverns came out blazing in the second half, closing the gap by scoring four goals.  They fell short of the comeback with a final score of 7-5, but showed enormous grit in fighting through til the end.    

Last night, the team traveled to Bardstown to take on Nelson County.  In a tough match, the Wyverns batted with the Cardinals and were down 2-1 for most of the match, eventually losing 3-1.  Senior striker and leading scorer Abas Isgowe scored on a bomb from 30 yards out for the Wyverns' only goal.  

Coach Marshall's take on recent games:  "The players have shown a new-found second-half toughness. The team is gradually becoming more aggressive, having pushed Riley Gregor to midfield while moving Sam Borden to the sweeper position.  Joe Harlan and Jack Hanekamp have also emerged as important contributors, bringing intensity and energy every time they enter the game. The team is still transitioning, but the goals are beginning to come.  In the past two games, Riley has scored two goals and Abas has scored four.  With a few more tweaks to the back and more focus in the first half, this team has a chance to be a spoiler in the district tournament."

Golf

The golf team ended its season last week.  The played Walden in a home and home set on Monday and Thursday.  The Wyverns fell short in both matches but finished the season strong.  The team had by far its best match against Walden Thursday,  Emerson Mudd and Ryan Petiprin shot their best rounds to date (53 and 58, respectively), and Emerson had his first two pars of the season.  It was a great season and the team showed a lot of progress.  We are looking forward to next season when we'll hopefully have more golfers and more matches!

Basketball

The boys' basketball team has been working diligently on improving for the upcoming season.  Coach Tony Williams has had most of those not playing other sports working on individual skills for basketball since the second week of the school year.   The team is now in the conditioning portion of their preseason schedule and awaits the start of regular season practices on October 15th.  At this point, we have 11 boys on the full roster.  With this few players, there may not be a junior varsity team for this season.  If you have a player that had decided not to play this year, but would like to reconsider joining the team, feel free to email Coach Williams at twilliams@stfrancisschool.org.

The girls' basketball team is shaping up nicely and looks to have their biggest roster in recent history.  New head coach Richard Butcher is excited about the prospects after their first group workout last Thursday.  A preseason schedule has been released via email and is below.  All are at St. Stephen's Family Life Center, our home gym.  

10/44:30 - 6:30 p.m.

10/59:00 - 11:00 a.m.

10/84:00 - 6:00 p.m.

10/94:00 - 6:00 p.m.

10/10   4:00 - 6:00 p.m.

10/114:30 - 6:30 p.m.

10/128:30 - 10:00 a.m. - Practice; 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. - Work at Middle School clinic as fundraiser

NOTE:  These workouts are voluntary, but will give much needed fundamental work, team drills, and conditioning.  Field hockey players should abide by the practice schedule, and instruction, of Coach Phulpagar.  Please come if possible.

Bowling

The bowling season is off to a good start.  This year we welcome the addition of boys' bowling to join the girls' team and look forward to seeing the teams compete.  On the boys' side we have hired Stephen Boyd, our longtime tennis coach, to coach the team.  The girls will be coached by David Word, Biology teacher and our assistant soccer coach the past three seasons.  Coach Word stepped down from soccer prior to this season but is rejoining the Athletic Department to work with the girls' bowling team.

If you child has expressed interest in playing a winter sport this year but you are not receiving emails, please email Tony Butler at tbutler@stfrancisschool.org to be added to the distribution list.