Boys Varsity Soccer vs Santa Paula

February 6, 2017

The Cate boys varsity soccer lost yet another heartbreaker on Friday, February 3, this time at home, to a talented Santa Paula squad by a score of 4-3. The Rams jumped out to an early lead when, in the sixth minute, captain Christian Herman ’17 took a beautiful pass from Buba Fofanah ’20 and finished it to the far post. The Rams continued to dominate play, but a miscommunication in the back led to foul in the box and Santa Paula evened the score in the 21st minute on a penalty kick. The Rams came back just six minutes later when Charlie Morris ’18 swung a superb free kick onto Fofanah’s head, which he deftly nodded just inside the post from about ten yards out. Cate took a 2-1 lead into the second half of play but gave up yet another penalty kick just four minutes into the second frame.

In the 66th minute, Harry Corman ’20 got dragged down in the Santa Paula penalty box and Herman ’17 converted the penalty kick to put the Rams back on top. Santa Paula responded again two minutes on a free kick outside the box, and then again two minutes after that to take their first lead of the game, 4-3. They held onto that lead despite several threatening opportunities by the Rams.

“It was a gut-wrenching day for us. We played hard and had Santa Paula on their heels for much of the game. And our ability to keep responding whenever Santa Paula scored showed a lot of grit and composure. But in the end, we were done in by some simple mistakes that teams like Santa Paula are capable of capitalizing on,” said Cate Head Coach Pete Mack.

“It was a shame because Cullen Barber ’19 easily played his best game of the year in net, racking up seventeen saves, some of them extraordinary. As usual, Christian Herman ’17 helped keep us afloat and made life impossible for the Santa Paula defenders. Captain Ryan Borchardt ’17 gave us an added punch off the bench, as he slowly works his way back from injury,” Mack noted.

The Rams hit the pitch again on Monday, February 6 at Grace Brethren. That game wills tart at 2:30 p.m.