Boys Soccer vs Santa Clara

The Cate boys varsity soccer team moved to 3-1-1 on the season Thursday afternoon with a 5-0 defeat of visiting Santa Clara. The Rams opened the game by controlling play in the midfield, keeping possession, and tiring out the Saints. They were rewarded just 5 minutes in when Shion Kato ’21 slotted a ball into the box from the left side that Ari Seal ’24 tucked neatly home from 6 yards out. Seal struck again 16 minutes later when he controlled a pass from Seb Sutch ’24 and finished from about 12 yards. In the 29th minute, Sage Hou ’23 took a pass from Jae Lim ’23 on the left side and lofted a cross that became a shot when it found the back of the net on the far post. Three minutes afterward, Peter Wood ’22 handled a perfect through ball from Mason Oetgen ’22 and cleanly finished deep into the box. The Rams continued to control the pace of the game in the second half by being patient with the ball and then making quick, strategic attacks, and were rewarded for a final time in the 75th minute when Lim found Sutch, who completed a quick one-two with Seal just outside the top of the box; Seal’s touchback put Sutch in behind the defenders for an easy finish in the lower-left corner. We outshot the Saints 29-6. Tyler Martinez made 4 saves on the day.

Despite our lineup missing the contributions of several veteran players due to injury, every guy we put on the field continues to produce, which points to both our depth and our adaptability. We’ve become a team that can constantly pressure, possess the ball, and counter-attack quickly… which is a lot to be able to do well. We’re still very young and we make some mistakes due to inexperience, but not for lack of effort. Two guys who don’t show up on the stat sheet, but who have been critical to our success, are holding midfielder Owen Conde-Raggett ’23 and center back Rick Bobby Valente ’22. These guys have become our best one-on-one defenders; physical and smart with great anticipation. Their play has enabled us to pressure higher up the field without too much worry on the back end.

We close out our regular season and league play on Monday at 4p here on the Mesa versus St. Bonaventure. I urge you to come watch these guys play.