Cate girls lacrosse took control early and never looked back, cruising to a 15-7 win over Dos Pueblos on Tuesday.
Maia Holmes opened up the scoring for the Rams just 20 seconds into the game to kickstart a dominant first half that ended with Cate leading 10-1.
From there, the Rams fended off any comeback efforts by the Chargers to pull out the win.
Sophia Ospina led all scorers with five goals while Holmes followed her up with four goals. Meanwhile, Lucy Guilbert-Neal and Carmen Lack each netted a pair of goals.
Rounding out the scoring for Cate were Harper Halbardier and Sam Jimenez. Defensively, Jeeyou Jung ended the night with eight saves while Lauren Hubbs had a solid performance.
“Cate has been improving steadily throughout the season,” Rams coach Renee Mack said. “Today was a testament to their hard-work and team effort.
“The team is ready for the second half of the season and second round of league play.”
As for the Chargers, Linnea Clapinski tallied three goals to go along with eight draw controls. Eloise Shea (5 ground balls, 2 draw controls, 1 goal) and Hannah Martin (2 ground balls, 2 assists, 1 goal) stood out as well.
“We had a slow start tonight that led to Cate outscoring us in the second quarter and that’s what hurt us most,” Dos Pueblos coach Anais Jimenez said. “It was an equally physical, high-paced game and our team finished off extremely strong and on a high note.”
The Rams (6-2) and will take on San Marcos on Thursday in a matchup of the top two teams in the Channel League.
San Marcos 15, Nordhoff 1
The Royals remained undefeated in Channel League play with a lopsided win over Nordhoff on Tuesday.
“It was nice to see players who don’t normally score create some nice looks on offense,” San Marcos coach Paul Ramsey said. “Our focus on this one was sportsmanship and playing defense without fouling and I’m really pleased we pulled that off.”
San Marcos held Nordhoff scoreless until there was under a minute left in the third quarter.
The Royals will now look ahead to Thursday’s big matchup with Cate at Warkentin Stadium at 6 p.m.