On Dec. 11, the Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) boys soccer team laced their cleats and took the field against Cate School (Cate) for their seventh preseason matchup. Cate School ended up with the win after a dominant 6-0 performance with five goals tallied in the first half alone. In spite of an improved second-half defensive performance from Foothill Tech, the offense unfortunately remained stagnant.
“[Cate] is probably gonna be the best team in the league. We’ve had a lot of hard preseason games waiting up to this. And we’re trying to emulate and simulate the environment we’re gonna be in today. And then, yeah, we came up short today. But still early in the season, and there’s a lot of games left to play,” said Asher Bayless ‘26, after the loss.
In the 16th, 36th and 43rd minutes, Cate was able to score three goals on set-piece kicks.
Right before the halftime whistle, Foothill Tech had two corner kicks from winger Gavin Leedy ‘26, which were nearly headed in, but missed wide of the post and over the crossbar. The Dragons missed a few of their only opportunities to get on the board and decrease the deficit.
“We gave up a lot for free in the first half. I just think we gotta work on our set-pieces. We conceded three on set-pieces in the first half, and then we tightened it down,” Bayless said.
The Dragons had many chances to get on the board in the second half as well. A free kick from right outside the box from Anders Bayless ‘28 was blocked once again by the impenetrable Cate defense.
Ammar Atiah ‘26 and Asher Bayless led two breakaways for Foothill Tech. However, Cate’s defense put an end to both with a pass made too late as the offside flag was raised and a Cate defender executed a perfect tackle.
The final whistle blew and both teams showed their sportsmanship with handshakes and applause for the crowd.
Foothill Tech has Westlake High School on Dec. 15 and Oaks Christian School on Dec. 18 waiting ahead of them for their next two preseason matchups before they can celebrate their holiday festivities.
Can the Dragons find a way to pick up some momentum?
