Freshman midfielder Jeffrey Acheampong moves the ball up the field on his way to scoring Cate's first goal of the game. (Vince Agapito/Presidio Sports)
In the end, it didn’t really matter who Cate was playing against in boys soccer on Saturday. The talented Rams were on fire after suffering a home loss on Friday, and they were ready to take down anybody.
They rebounded with a vengeance against JSerra, the top-ranked team in CIF-SS Division 1. They scored two goals in a dominating first-half performance and won 2-0 on their home field.
Cate, the defending Division 7 champion, was coming off a 4-3 home loss Friday against Oxnard Pacifica, a Division 3 team.
JSerra created the first scoring chance of the game in the second minute, but the header from short range sailed over the cross bar.
Cate was in command the rest of the way. The Rams (2-1) applied high pressure in the midfield to force turnovers and knocked the ball around with a purpose.They scored the first goal after freshman Jeffrey Acheampong forced a turnover, received a pass from sophomore Shuta Kobayashi, dribbled uncontested into the box and unleashed a rocket past goalkeeper Jason Olmedo for a 1-0 lead.
Ema Boateng scored Cate's second goal.
Despite giving up the two goals, Olmedo played a terrific game for JSerra (4-3), making 12 saves.
He made several diving stops against the Rams tenacious forward Avery Schwartz.
When the Lions were able to hold the ball, their best weapon was a long throw-in from Blake Clifton. He was able to chuck the ball at least 50 yards.
JSerra, however, couldn’t sustain any long possessions against the aggressive Rams.
They went up 2-0 in the 35th minute when Acheampong dribbled across the top of the box and fed junior midfielder Ema Boateng. He ripped a shot into the box, got rebound and buried his second chance.
Cate created a couple of quality chances for Schwartz in the second half, but Olmedo came through for the Lions.
Rams goalkeeper Blake Wands preserved the shutout, smothering a through ball into the box in the final minutes.
“Credit for the shutout goes to Wands, wing backs Patrick Thomas and Matthew Firestone, and the sweeper/stopper combination of Joshua Yaro and Leighton Brillo-Sonnino, said Cate coach Dave Mochel. “The entire team worked tirelessly to create tremendous defensive pressure against the Lions.”
It was the second straight year Cate beat a Division 1 team in December. Last year it defeated Harvard Westlake in a Showcase Tournament at UCSB.
The Rams play host to San Marcos on Wednesday. Also on their preleague schedule are matches against Carpinteria and Santa Ynez.
