When your opponents’ goalie scores two on you, you can be pretty sure it’s not your day—it certainly wasn’t for the Millikan Rams on Tuesday, as they hosted a CIF Wild Card match against Fountain Valley in the campus pool, falling 13-1.

Millikan coach Al Reyes said he hoped his team would rebound from a loss to Fountain Valley on Monday with better defense, and a better job converting their man-ups.  But nothing went the Rams’ way, from the outset, after Fountain Valley’s Marisa Young scored on their first possession, giving them a lead they’d never relinquish, just thirty seconds in.  On defense, the Rams couldn’t hold the physically superior Barons back, and Millikan goalie Ghita Bouzarif had an uncharacteristic bad day in the net; on offense, the Rams were really overpowered, and were only able to get any penetration at all on two possessions in the first half—their lone goal was a long heave from Vanessa Canseco into the top left corner, halfway through the second quarter with her team already trailing 7-1.

After the game, Reyes pointed out that just because both teams were lower in their leagues, didn’t mean they were on equal footing.  “The Sunset League is a very good league,” he said.  “Third or fourth place means you’re behind Newport Harbor and Los Al, top-tier programs.  But I would say it was more about what they did right, than what we did wrong.”

The Barons did seem to have a charmed day, hitting 10 of their first 14 shots against the normally reliable Bouzarif, while holding the Rams to 1-20 shooting on the afternoon.  Not to mention those two incredible lobs from goalie Lindsey Catron.  As the clock ran out on the first and second quarters, Catron found herself holding the ball, and both times she reared back and threw the ball as hard as she could—both times it fell just under the Millikan crossbar on the other side of the pool.  The first gave her team a 5-0 lead after the first quarter, and the second made it 9-1 at halftime.  In addition to Catron’s pair, Young scored two, and Danica Fascella and Kayla Robert both had a hat trick. 

Reyes, despite the defeat, was characteristically upbeat after the loss—ah, the wonders of youth.  “There are 20 girls in the program, and we’re graduating three.  Yes, we’re going to miss our seniors, but we won league championships on the lower levels.  We took our lumps this year—next year…well, we’ll still take some lumps, but hopefully not as many.”