In one of the most dramatic comeback wins in the history of the rivalry, Cate’s boys lacrosse rallied from a 10-4 deficit late in the third quarter and beat Thacher 12-11 in overtime to the delight of an overflow Parent’s Weekend crowd at Cate.
Kyler Jae started the Rams’ comeback, scoring off a pass from Luke Shover to make the scored 10-5. Seconds later, Mackie Greason beat his defender and scored, giving Cate renewed confidence.
A power-play goal by Michael Hassman made it 10-7 to start the fourth quarter and then the Greason brothers, Mackie and Wesley took over the game.
They accounted for the next three goals, capped by a beautiful feed from Wesley Greason to Jae for a one-timer to tie the game at 10-10 at 4:10 of the final period.
Thacher regained the lead, capitalizing on a Cate misconduct penalty with 1:42 left.
Michael Martinez, who controlled 7 of 8 face-offs during the comeback, helped Cate get possession with just over a minute to play.
After a timeout, the Rams’ Cormac O’Connor picked up a loose ball in the crease and scored to tie the contest at 11-11 with 32 seconds to go.
Thacher missed on a last-second attempt and the game went to overtime.
O’Connor made the big play in the extra period, scooping up a ground ball at the midl-line and passing to sophomore attackman Kyle Mayfield. Mayfield one-timed the ball to Wesley Greason, who beat the Thacher goalkeeper for the game winner.
The exciting win moves Cate within one win of an outright Condor League title and a berth in the CIF-SS Northern Top 8 tournament. The Rams can secure the league title on Wednesday against Laguna Blanca.
Cate finishes the regular season on Saturday, April 30 in the annual battle for “The Stick” against Malibu.
