Girls Varsity Soccer vs Nordhoff

February 6, 2018

The Cate girls varsity soccer team lost a tough match to visiting Nordhoff on Tuesday, January 30. “We’ve been following the progress of all the teams in our league and knew coming into this game that Nordhoff would be the best team we would face in the regular season. With our strong defense and some scoring weapons we felt we could compete in this game by converting on opportunities early in the game,” said Cate head coach Lisa Holmes.

The Rams played an excellent first half matching the Nordhoff team in hustle and keeping their composure despite a skilled Nordhoff midfield and attack. Cate did have a few opportunities in the first half on breakaways and a good counter-attack, but were unable to get the ball into the net. The good news for Cate is that neither could Nordhoff. The first half ended in a 0-0 stalemate.

The spirited effort continued to in the second half and again Cate had some good chances at the goal but could not convert. Freshman Keeper Taylor Kane ’21 made some amazing, acrobatic saves in the second half to keep us in the game and the defense cleared out the ball on several well-placed Nordhoff corner kicks. With eight minutes left in the game, Nordhoff’s leading scorer launched a beautiful shot just outside the box that went straight to the upper corner.  Cate had a chance late in the game with a direct kick in the waning moments but that Nordhoff goal turned out to be the only one of the game.

“Nordhoff left with a 1-0 win and we left with the understanding that we could play with an excellent team, one that is a division above us and more experienced overall,” Holmes added.

The Rams sit at 4-2-3 and need more in the win column to make the CIF playoffs in mid-February. Cate has another chance to pick up a win on Thursday, February 1 when they take on rival Thacher. That game will start at 3:15 and will be at Cate.