Boys Soccer Kick off the Season against Pacifica
December 5, 2025
Your Cate Men’s Varsity Soccer team played their first game of the 2025-26 season earlier today when we hosted the Pacifica HS Tritons on Meldman field. For the past couple of seasons we’ve looking for local competitive teams to play in the preseason knowing that it would help our team be better prepared for the league and the post season. Today we got our wish and faced a talented and gritty opponent in Pacifica.
Today’s starting 11 looked like this: Sophomore Goal Keeper Alejandro Sandoval at the net. The back 4 was made up of Sophomore Shirdon Nouh, Junior Aydin Barry, and Seniors Charlie Dorion and Alex Galegos. The midfield was filled by juniors Nate Koh and Miles Thompson, as well as Senior Quincy Thorne. The attacking trio was led by George Marin, Nolan Montoya, and Kiy Barry.
The Rams came out strong showcasing their talent. Cate’s defensive line held firm through several early Pacifica attacks, and strong efforts from Alejandro helped keep the match scoreless during a competitive first stretch of play. Midway through the first half, Pacifica broke through with a well-placed finish, giving them a 1-0 lead.
The Rams responded immediately with renewed urgency. Cate pushed forward, earning several promising opportunities in front of goal. Just minutes later, Senior George Marin buried a header into the back of the net off a great free-kick cross from Charlie Dorion, leveling the score at 1-1. The equalizer energized the home side, and momentum briefly swung in Cate’s favor as the teams headed into halftime.
The second half began with both sides trading chances in an evenly contested battle. Cate continued to press looking for a breakthrough, but Pacifica capitalized midway through the half to reclaim the lead with a clinical finish. Determined to respond once again, the Rams pushed numbers forward in search of another equalizer, creating pressure in Pacifica’s defensive third.
With just under 20 minutes remaining, Pacifica added an insurance goal, extending their lead to 3-1 and sealing the outcome. Despite the final score, your Rams fought hard until the final whistle.
There were lots of positives to take away from today’s match. Charlie made some great runs from the back and tried to get us back in the game, Alejandro made some excellent saves to keep us in the game, Quincy showed his versatility and athleticism and played the full 80 in the field, and our young players got a taste of high level D1 soccer. We also got some great contributions from our young players off the bench.
Coming off the fall break and playing out first match is always challenging but I am extremely confident that we will bounce back next week when we start league play. We will slowly start to get players back from others commitments and injuries and that will help us become a more versatile team.
We will be traveling to Ventura next Thursday to face Foothill Tech at 7 pm at Ventura College to kick off the start of league play. Thanks to those of you that came out to support us.