Cate's Ema Boateng looks for a way to feed teammate Avery Schwartz, foreground, in Friday's CIF game.
Cate's Avery Schwartz pokes the ball away from a Knights player
Ema Boateng scored three times and assisted on Cate’s other two goals in a 5-0 CIF-opening victory over visiting Academy for Academic Excellence on Friday.
The No. 1 Rams posted their 14th shutout in 18 games and improved to 18-0 on the season. The Rams advance into Division VII’s second round but were just happy to get off the field on a cold, windy, wet day.
“I don’t think I’ve been that cold for that long in a game. The weather was crazy,” said Rams junior Avery Schwartz, who scored twice for Cate in the second half. “The wind was really tough to deal with just in terms of judging the ball. It was tough to get on the other end of stuff because it was so unpredictable.”
Boateng scored all three of his goals in the first half before setting up Schwartz late in the second half.
“We got five goals but I think we could have got more,” Boateng said after the game.
Although goalkeeper Blake Wands made a couple of nice saves, Cate’s offense controlled possession and attacked the Knights’ goal with regularity.
“I’ll never miss more chances in a game than I missed in the first however long it took me to score,” Schwartz said. “But yeah, I was happy to finally put some in there. Ema did a fantastic job in the first half to get the goals we needed to get.”
Cate head coach Dave Mochel said he had a hard time sleeping the night before waiting for the postseason to begin.
“They didn’t have an answer, really, for Avery and Ema. But our whole midfield play really well. I’m pleased,” Mochel said.
The Rams move on to face Lennox in the second round on Wednesday. Lennox is the Coastal League champion and just posted a 10-0 opening-round victory over Shalhevet.
“I think we have a much better team from last year and I think we’re going to do well this year,” Boateng said.
