Varsity Girls' Lacrosse beats Cate in overtime thriller

We rolled on to the Cate Mesa today glad to find the temperature hovering in the mid 80's, rather than the mid 90's, where it has been all week in Ojai.  Cate won the first draw control and drove the field, scoring in the first 45 seconds.  Cate 1, Thacher 0.  Isobel Hayne won the next draw, and after some back and forth play, Ciara Byrne won the ball and drove the cage, scoring and evening the game 1-1. More back and forth play ensued, with Thacher controlling the offense but unable to find the cage.  We hit the post three times, and the Cate goalie made several saves.  In the meantime, Cate steadily found the back of the net, scoring at the 20 minute mark to make it 2-1 and at the 12 minute mark to make it 3-1.  FInally, with a minute and fifty-four seconds to go, Anne Gregory drove the cage and scored: Cate 3, Thacher 2.  Isobel Hayne snatched the next draw control and sprinted down the field, scoring just 14 seconds later: Cate 3, Thacher 3.  Cate won the next draw and after some pressure in the midfield, found their way into the offensive third, scoring off a save from Sage Whipple that richocheted just beyond her crease: Cate 4, Thacher 3 with 34 seconds left.  Thacher won the next draw and found Byrne, who drove the cage and scored just 21 seconds later.  Cate called for a stick check on Byrne's stick, but it was legal, and the goal stood. The half ended 4-4.

The second half saw many more minutes of back and forth play.  Thacher played tremendous recovery defense, as Anne Gregory, Charlotte Driscoll, Sasha Ongley and Sarah Voss all put unwavering double teams on the ball, often winning it back for Thacher.  However, we could not convert, as the Cate goalie continued to make tremendous saves, even in 1 on 1 situations.  Finally, 11 minutes into the second half, Byrne broke free and scored: Thacher 5, Cate 4.  Cate won the ensuing draw, and Thacher's defense stayed strong, as Marissa Lopez, Grace Callander, Mackenzie Boyden, Margaret Troast and Madison Rubeli all had moments of brilliance--winning ground balls, causing turnovers, and clearing the ball up the field with ease.  However, Cate would not quit, and eventually a player scored on a tremendous quick stick shot: Cate 5, Thacher 5.  Sasha Ongley snagged the next draw and moved it down the field, eventually finding Annie Beckham, who rolled the crease and faked the goalie low and then put it away just over her shoulder to give Thacher a 6-5 edge.  Not long after that Byrne scored to give us a 7-5 lead.  With four minutes remaining, we began to stall the ball, and we moved it fast and efficiently for two and a half minutes.  With just under two minutes to play, we had a turnover, and Cate capitalized, racing down the field and scoring: 7-6.  They won the draw and quickly scored again: 7-7 with a minute and 12 seconds to play!  After several harrowing back and forth plays, including a save from Whipple and a missed shot by Thacher, the whistle blew; we were headed for over time!

The first 3 minute segment went by in a flash of back and forth play, saves by Whipple, ground balls, and a yellow card on Cate for dangerous play.  Though we were man up for 2 minutes, we could not capitalize.  In the second half, the tension was high, and the clock was winding down when Cate came down into our defensive end and drew a free position.  Whipple was standing between the pipes with 37 seconds on the clock, facing a free position.  Cate shoots and...save!  Rebound! The ball flies through the air into Madison Rubeli's stick, and she moves it up the field, eventually finding Hayne.  Hayne drives the cage and draws a foul.  Free position shot.  The whistle blows, she shoots a bounce shot and...scores!  8-7 with 22 seconds remaining on the clock!  The next draw control is a battle, and after a foul is called, the refs award the ball to Cate.  Cate comes down the field, and a wayward pass ends up drawing not only several Thacher defenders out but also our goalie, Sage Whipple.  The refs call a foul on Sage, but for some strange reason do not put her behind the Cate player.  Nonetheless, the cage is empty.  The whistle blows, and Thacher defenders swarm the Cate player, causing her to retreat and look for a pass, which goes wild.  The horn sounds...Toads win!  First win on Cate's field since 2006, and first time beating them twice in a season since 2006.  It was a wonderful team win, as many girls had brilliant moments.  Anne Gregory was the ground ball queen with 8 scoops on the day and a goal, while Sasha Ongley had 5 scoops and an interception; Whipple registered 11 saves; Byrne had 4 caused turnovers; Grace Callander took a ferocious charge late in the game that cost Cate a yellow card; Georgie Becker and Sarah Voss played critical minutes for us in the midfield; Renfrew snagged 5 ground balls and a draw control; we could go on and on.  Thanks to all of the wonderful parent support we had at the game; it was great to see the Beckhams, Pam Reiss, Karen Kelly, the Gregorys, CJ Voss and Anne Lyons, and Elizabeth Callander.  Now, we wait to hear about the playoffs; we should know late in the day on Sunday who we are facing.