Hillsborough native anchors WCAL champ SI

Schaffer — a Hillsborough native — has been the anchor of a St. Ignatius girls’ soccer reemergence. The Wildcats finished off an unbeaten run through WCAL play with four straight wins, all shutouts, to lock up the program’s first league championship since 2008-09.

“She’s made at least two or three big-time saves in every game,” St. Ignatius head coach Tracy Hamm said. “I’d attribute a lot of our success to her being in goal.”

Hamm has been integral to St. Ignatius rising to the top of the WCAL standings in such a hurry. In her first year as a high school head coach, Hamm has brought a progressive array of lineups to the pitch for the private school in San Francisco’s Outer Sunset District.

For years, St. Ignatius had abided by a prototypical 4-3-3 lineup, the status quo throughout the WCAL. Hamm, however, did away with that approach from day one, opting instead for mixing it up depending on the opponent. She’s diversified with 4-3-2-1 and 4-5-1 lineups.

The progressive tactics carry over from Hamm’s other gig. She also serves as head coach of the San Francisco State women’s soccer team.

“She’s just breaking the mold and making a great impression here,” Schaffer said. “I’m really, really lucky I’ve got to play my senior year for her.”

Schaffer has played four years of high school soccer. She was promoted to the varsity team as a freshman. It wasn’t until this year, however, that she served as the Wildcats’ starter the entire season. She missed just one start, and that was due to her having to take a final for her psychology class.

Over the past three years, St. Ignatius stayed in the middle of the pack. A fourth-place finish, followed by consecutive third-place finishes.

It took some time for the Wildcats to buy in to Hamm’s progressive system this year.

“I think, for me, I didn’t know any of the players coming into the program,” Hamm said. “So the preseason games … we only had one practice before our first game. So, I didn’t even know who played where or where our strengths were until the first game. … So there was definitely a learning curve.”

The team has totaled eight ties this year, including four in WCAL play. The last loss, though, came Dec. 21 against Monte Vista-Danville in non-league play.

It’s not how you start, though. It’s how you finish. And while Schaffer has been on point all season — allowing just 11 goals through 18 games — she has really come on through the past two weeks.

Schaffer said her personal highlight came against Mitty Feb. 2. The Wildcats earned a 2-0 win, just the second time they’ve beaten the Monarchs since Schaffer has been at SI, and the first time since 2016-17.

“I wanted to leave my mark,” Schaffer said. “And we hadn’t beaten Mitty in a long time. … You have very few chances to prove yourself as a goalkeeper, and I didn’t want to pass those up.”

The season finale against St. Francis, a 1-0 Wildcats win, saw Schaffer finish with a flourish, with Schaffer fending off an all-out assault in the closing minutes.

“It can be a goalkeeper’s nightmare,” Hamm said, “and she made two phenomenal saves in the last five minutes when St. Francis pushed their numbers up and we couldn’t get out of our own half.”

Schaffer is looking to pick up right where she left off as SI opens play Saturday in the Central Coast Section Open Division bracket. The No. 4-seed Wildcats drew a first-round matchup, at home, against none other than No. 5 St. Francis.