Cate School poured in four second-half goals on Saturday to blank Thacher 4-0 for its first girls soccer victory in Ojai.
Lilly Riehl had two goals and an assist for the Rams (1-1-1).
On a rainy day, the first half was scoreless. Cate got its passing game going in the second half (more than 140 completed passes) and Tali Nam opened the scoring in the 47th minute, taking a pass from her sister, Emie Nam, and navigated past two defenders to slot it past the keeper. One minute later, Riehl got on the end of a pass from Rachel Ma and drilled a goal to make it 2-0.
“Outside midfielders Grace Blankenhorn and Tali Nam recovered all the way back to help on defense, then turned around and sprinted forward to attack,” said coach Taylor Wyatt. “Outside defenders Olivia Dorion, Lea De Vylder, Tamsyn Taptich, and Julianna Forry found that sweet spot on the field where they could do their essential jobs, but also aid in counterattacks, stepping forward to control play in the dangerous space between defense and midfield. In the back, Kim Rogers, Maddy Tunnell, and Ali Istanbullu prevented a fairly dangerous Thacher front line from ever getting by with the ball.”
Goalie Taylor Kane made several strong saves to record the shutout.
Reihl scored again in the 65th minute on an assist from Neema Mugofwa after Ma picked off a Thacher throw-in. With one minute to play, Ma found the net on a pass from Riehl after Blankenhorn crossed the ball into the middle.
“It feels good to come home from Ojai with the win, but even better to do it with such style,” said Wyatt.
The Rams will host Laguna Blanca on Thursday at 3:15 p.m.