GVS Squashes the Toads

January 20, 2026

Thursday, 15-Jan-25

Cate GVS 1 – 0 Thacher

Saves: Mimi Power (9)

Assist: Tania Molina and Sierra Montoya

Goal: Precious Adjei (16:30)

We got a win! The temperature was around 85 degrees at kickoff and combined with Thacher’s tall grass field, it felt a little like we were playing beach soccer where the ball unexpectedly gets stuck in the sand. Competitive beach soccer.  Physical beach soccer. There’s not a huge amount of love lost between these two teams.  Because of the conditions, most opportunities came from long through balls and Mimi had her work cut out for her in the net, recording nine saves, including a dramatic one that sent a Thacher player careening over her back.  She came up smiling.  Of course.  Mimi did, I mean, not our friend in green (but she emerged okay too). On the other end of the field, we got an early goal when Sierra and Tania combined a few passes on the right side to get the ball up to Precious, who put a beautiful, arcing shot neatly into the net.  Precious led our attacks today with 5 shots on frame, setting herself up as a constant threat and drawing swarms of defenders.  Tania had an amazing game, marking Thacher’s most menacing player, and managing to frustrate her for the full, hot, 80 minutes.  Harper Bishop was a standout, and while the rest of us were struggling to breathe, she seemed to grow stronger from the heat and did a huge amount of work tracking back into the midfield to collect the ball, recording 10 completed passes. I also want to highlight Fiona Pan’s work in the midfield, alongside Claire Bianchi, and central defenders Coco Kliman and Lauren Hubbs.  Together they led in the passing tally, combining for 30 passes, despite really high pressure; they held our shape today in a game that remained intense until the final whistle.  Everyone will certainly be feeling the physical effects of this match and also the satisfaction of giving so much effort and earning a meaningful result.  It feels so good to win, especially in Ojai.  Next week we will play three times… no problem… away at St. Bonaventure in Ventura, then at Grace in Simi Valley, before hosting the relatively unknown Villanova at home on Saturday.