Girls Varsity Soccer vs Santa Clara
February 13, 2017
The Cate girls varsity soccer team defeated Santa Clara on Thursday, February 9 by a 4-1 score in the final game of the 2016-2017 season. The “home” game was played on the dry turf at the Santa Paula High School stadium and the big field was to Cate’s advantage. The Rams passed the ball well in the first half and spent most of the first 40 minutes on the attack. Even with a lot of pressure on the Santa Clara defense and several scoring opportunities, it took Cate 25 minutes to score its first goal.
The hustle and determination of Emely Villatoro ’19 helped put the team on the scoreboard. Villatoro outmaneuvered her defender and chased a loose ball into the box. Her initial shot was deflected and made a strange bounce, but Janice Ng ’18 was there to finish the opportunity Villatoro started. Cate took a 1-0 lead into half-time.
The second half played out mostly as Cate had hoped. Neema Mugofwa ’20 earned the second Cate goal 50 minutes into the game when she took a pass from Julia Farner ’18 and beat her defender with both speed and skill before scoring with a rocket of a shot in front of the net.
The Cate celebration was short-lived, as Santa Clara earned a goal off a corner kick five minutes later. The one goal lead was not part of Cate’s second-half plan but fortunately, Isabela Montes De Oca ’18, a fierce competitor who always has her eye on the goal, expanded the lead with a goal off a pass from Maddie Erickson ’19 just two minutes after Santa Clara’s goal.
Montes De Oca found the back of the net again at the 70-minute mark when she took a ball from Cate’s defensive third all the way up the field moving past and through several defenders to score an unassisted goal that gave the Rams a comfortable lead for the end of the game.
Mugofwa and Montes De Oca end the season as top goal scorers on the team and in the Frontier League. Montes De Oca is currently second in the Frontier League for total combined points from goals and assists.
“The girls played well tonight and had fun together. We hoped to have a home game to celebrate our two seniors: Ellie Vogel and Kate Smith. They are number 13 and 14 respectively and both sport purple cleats that served them well today and carried them through four years of soccer at Cate,” said Cate Head Coach Lisa Holmes.
“Kate started with the JV team as a freshman and earned a reputation as a “land shark” for her tenacious effort on offense. That she went for JV player to varsity captain says a lot about what hard work and commitment mean in the realm of sports. Kate scored our first goal of the season this year and nearly had one tonight,” said Holmes.
“Ellie Vogel ’17 played four years of varsity soccer and in that time has moved back and forth between the forward in the midfield positions. Ellie is one of our most reliable garbage goal scorers. If there is a scramble in front of the net, chances are Ellie’s foot will find the ball. She has a quick trigger of a shot and this is one reason why she is practically unbeatable in a game of “world cup” on a rainy practice day and why she has been a consistent goal scorer over four years,” Holmes added.