Cate Rams Crush Grace Lancers 7-0 in New Year Opener
January 12, 2024
George Marin’s Hat Trick Powers Rams to 7-0 Victory
George Marin ’26
The Cate Rams played the first match of the new year when they hosted the Grace Lancers on a beautiful and chilly afternoon on the Mesa,
Cate again got off to a scorching start, creating great scoring chances from the second the whistle blew. In the 4th minute of the game, Uriel Beltran-Campuzano ’25 made a streaking run on the left side, fired off a shot that ricocheted off the crossbar and returned to the field of play. George Marin ’26 pushed in the rebound to give the Rams another early lead, collect his first goal of the match, and give us a 1-0 lead. Two minutes later, the same duo struck again when Uri made the same run but dished off a beautiful pass to George, who pushed in for his 2nd goal in 5 minutes and doubled our lead. In the 22nd minute, Kamil Abdul-Nafeo ’26 made a streaking run from his left-back position, beat a couple of defenders, and fired off a shot low and away. The Grace keeper made a good save but could not hold on to the ball, and George was able to collect the rebound and push it into the net for his 3rd goal of the game and his first “hat trick” as a Ram.
The momentum continued to build, and right before the half, the Rams extended their lead when Uriel intercepted a pass from the Grace goalkeeper and calmly tucked away a shot in the near post to give the Rams a 4-0 lead at the half.
Uriel Beltran-Campuzano ’25
The second half started, and the Rams continued their offensive outpour. Lucas Huiner ’25 scored his first goal as Ram in the 50th minute off an assist from Uri. Center-back Charlie Dorion ’26 got into the act, scoring in the 69th minute off a corner kick from George and scored again two minutes later off a pass from Uriel to complete the scoring and give the Rams a solid 7-0 home win.
The Rams left for the break on a high and winning note with a full 20-man roster, but…
We returned from the break to the news that we suffered three key losses: Senior left back Thomas Paige (knee injury) and senior forward Nate Keshen (leg injury). Junior forward Burak Yanar (back injury). We didn’t know what shape we would find our young men in after the 3-week break, but we were pleasantly surprised at how eager & ready they were to get back on the pitch. The next will take us to Ventura on Saturday when we’ll face Foothill Tech at noon @ Ventura College.
