Cate couldn’t hold a lead in the last 15 minutes and suffered a 4-2 loss to a strong Channel Islands boys soccer team in a non-league game on Friday.
The Rams were leading 2-1, but Channel Islands took advantage of some mistakes down the stretch and scored three goals in 12 minutes.
“We played a solid 60 minutes of soccer today against a tremendous team, a team so good that we needed to play the entire 80 at the top of our game,” Cate coach Peter Mack said. “It’s an unfortunate result, because we dominated play for long periods of the game but just couldn’t close the door.”
Cate (1-2) stunned the No 2-ranked team in CIF Division 3 with a goal in the eighth minute. Senior Tyler Douglas collected a long pass from junior Geoffrey Acheampong, beat two Channel Islands defenders, and slotted a shot in the lower left corner.
The goal woke up the Raiders, and they responded five minutes later to tie the score at 1-1.
Channel Islands pressured Cate early in the second half, but the Rams held them off and managed to establish their own style of play again. They earned a free kick from about 35 yards out, and senior Matthew Firestone played a beautiful ball into the box, where junior Iman Fardghassemi touched it to sophomore Joel Serugo, who fired a shot from 16 yards into the left side netting for a 2-1 lead.
Channel Islands scored the equalizer on through ball, and the Raiders took a 3-2 lead when captain Fernando Blancas ripped a curling shot into the top left corner. They added another goal moments later.
Despite the loss, Mack saw a silver lining in the team’s play.
“The bright spot is that we made huge strides today in our mental and tactical approach and showed signs of returning to last year’s late-season form,” he said. “Effort is never an issue with this team, so if we can stick to what we do well, we found today that we’re going to be a very good team.
Cate is home again on Wednesday against Pacifica.
