Cate battled back from a 2-0 deficit, but Pacifica scored with two minutes remaining in the game and pulled out a 3-2 victory over the Rams in a non-league boys soccer match Thursday at Cate.
Geoffrey Acheampong took over the game for Cate after falling behind by two goals. In the 51st minute, he ripped a shot from 20 yards that pinged over the underside of the crossbar and went in. Eleven minutes later, Acheampong was taken down in the 18-yard box and the Rams were awarded a penalty kick. The UCSB commit converted the PK to knot the score at 2-2.
Pacifica, however, regrouped and scored the game winner on a shot from 22 yards.
“Pacifica is one of the strongest teams on our schedule,” Cate coach Peter Mack said. “They are fast and highly skilled, and they play a quick, controlled style of soccer. I imagine that if you’re not the team playing them, it’s fun to watch. And we perhaps gave them a little too much respect in the first half, choosing to defend rather than attack — at least, until we were losing.”
Mack said the Rams (2-1) played with more grit and confidence in the second half.
“We gave them fits and took them away from what they like to do,” he said. “I am enormously impressed with the courage and work ethic we showed as the game wore on. It’s just unfortunate that we lost with so little time left. If we start playing full games with the kind of urgency and confidence with which we’ve played the second halves of the past two games, we will be a dangerous team. We simply have some maturing to do on the field.”
Mack lauded the play of his seniors: Iman Fardghassemi, Danny Rodriguez, Patty Thomas, Djata Nyaawie, and Acheampong.
