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Cathie Lawrence

Mariah Caitlin fights with a Napa player for the ball.

The Los Medanos women’s soccer team notched a decisive victory over the Napa College Storm with a final score of 9-0.

Napa drove down the field early, but a misfire had them coming up empty.

The first goal of the day came when Mariah Caitlin passed the ball to an open Bubu Ayala who quickly got down the field and scored to make it a 1-0 game.

“I can beat them with my speed and they were just sending balls to me, so that’s how I took it,” said Ayala after the game.

Napa made an attempt to even it up, but the shot had too much leg on it and the ball sailed out of bounds. Napa kept the ball in LMC territory and a good save by goalkeeper Bry’ana Wallace neutralized a Napa scoring threat.

The Storm made themselves at home in LMC territory early on, however bad passes, errant shots and lock-down defense by LMC kept them scoreless.

After struggling to get the ball into Storm territory, Ayala broke through the defense and got into a one-on-one situation with Napa’s goalkeeper and set a strike right into the net giving her a brace and LMC a 2-0 lead.

LMC got into an offensive rhythm as not long after Ayala’s second score, Caitlin made a perfect pass to Carmen Diaz who promptly banged it in for another goal.

Napa again had a prime opportunity to chip away at LMC’s ever-growing lead as they got set for a corner kick, but the LMC defense stood tall and preserved the shutout.

Ayala again broke through the defense and was one-on-one with the goalie but the potential hat trick was put on hold as the refs deemed her offside.

The Mustangs stuck around on Napa’s end of the field and when a Storm player fouled Diaz in the box, Haley Weder stepped up to take the penalty kick. The ball appeared to be sailing too high but in the end was perfect as it squeezed between the outstretched hand of the goalie and the top of the goal post.

The penalty made the game 4-0 heading into halftime.

The second half played out much the same as the first. Napa had lots of opportunities to put up points but couldn’t capitalize, and LMC’s offense picked right where it left off.

Caitlin went on an absolute tear as she scored three straight goals giving her a hat trick. When driving to score she “was just hoping I didn’t shoot it at the goalie honestly,” said Caitlin with a laugh. Not to be outdone, Ayala also knocked in another goal for a hat trick of her own.

Weder would also score her second and final goal as the game ended with a 9-0 LMC victory.

For more information on LMC soccer visit, http://www.losmedanos.edu/soccer/