Girls Varsity Soccer vs Nordhoff

January 11, 2017

The Cate girls’ varsity soccer team stepped onto it’s home field on for the first league game of 2017 against Nordhoff. With some players missing due to injury and illness, the Rams dropped the league opener to the Rangers by a 4-2 margin.

“I am proud of how hard and scrappy the girls played overall, and also wish we’d had a little more of that luck and home field bounce on the rain soaked field,” said Cate head coach Lisa Holmes.

The Rangers were able to put many shots on net in the first half and kept Cate goalie Mari Espinosa ’18 on her toes. The visitors scored off a corner kick mid-way through the first half after some intense minutes of offensive pressure. A slight let down in the Nordhoff defense gave Cate an opportunity to even the score ten minutes later when Neema Mugofwa ’20 chased down a pass from Ellie Vogel ’17 for a breakaway goal that highlighted her talent and speed. “This was Neema’s first goal in a Cate uniform and certainly not her last. The goal gave us the boost of energy we needed to make this a competitive game,” Holmes added.

Seven minutes later Julia Farner ’18, in her first game of the season, stole the ball in the Nordhoff back line and just missed a goal on a break away. Farner’s ’18 efforts gave the Rams a corner kick and a chance for the junior to work her magic from the flag. Farner ’18 sent a beautiful corner kick across the box that Sophie Johnson ’18 put into the back of the net. The Rams carried a soggy 2-1 lead into halftime.

The second half remained even for the first 20 minutes. Nordhoff scored a tying goal in the first ten minutes and then two more goals near the end of the game to put the match out of reach. “With few healthy bodies on the bench, we simply ran out of gas near the end. It is worth noting that Maddie Ericsson ’19 and Julia Farner ’18 worked together in the midfield today, running the full field without a minutes rest,” said Holmes.

Grace Blankenhorn ’20 came up from the JV team with about an hours notice and played a solid game in the backfield. Sophie Johnson ’18 and Emily Burns ’18 held down the defense in the middle and forced the Nordhoff attack outside. Kate Tunnell ’19 had a breakout game on defense and the muddy uniform to prove it.

The Rams will hit the pitch again on Thursday, January 12 against rival Thacher. That contest will be in Ojai and will start at 3:15.