Cathedral goal overturned, Wave loses

Published 12:04 am Wednesday, January 14, 2009

NATCHEZ — Sometimes it only takes one thing to completely change the momentum of a game and turn it towards the other team.

In Cathedral’s case, it was a goal that was disallowed that turned the tide in a 2-0 loss to Loyd Star Tuesday night.

The Green Wave thought they had scored to take a 1-0 lead midway through the first half when Cole Mann outhustled the Loyd Star goalkeeper and punched it in.

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However, the referee disallowed the goal and called a foul on Mann, saying he had made contact with the goalkeeper while he was in possession of the ball.

“We had some bad breaks in the first half,” Cathedral coach Rick Simons said. “That goal being called back on us was the turning point in the game. It was a 50-50 call and it didn’t go our way.”

The salt was rubbed in the wound a little more five minutes later when Cathedral was whistled for a foul in the Loyd Star box, resulting in a penalty kick for the Hornets.

Andrew Rushing easily converted the penalty kick for a 1-0 lead with 15 minutes remaining in the first half.

While Cathedral had been attacking the Loyd Star goal in the first half, the second half was a different story.

The Hornets continually outhustled and outworked the Green Wave players for the ball and Cathedral had very few scoring opportunities in the second half.

“(Loyd Star) wanted revenge for us beating them last week and they earned it,” Simons said. “They always play us tough. They came out and played harder than we did from the get go.”

Loyd Star iced the game in the second half when Chris Buie scored midway through the second half.

The loss dropped Cathedral to 9-4-1 overall and 3-1 in district play. However, the Green Wave will still win the district if they can defeat district foes Franklin County and North Pike next week.

“We’re still looking good,” Simons said. “We’ll be ready to go on Tuesday (against Franklin County).”

Cathedral girls 2, Loyd Star 0

The Lady Green Wave put in one of their best performances of the season in a dominating win over Loyd Star.

Cathedral scored just one goal in each half, but outshot the Lady Hornets 27-7.

Despite the huge shot advantage, the game was scoreless for the first 39 minutes until Lauren Smith scored with a minute to go before halftime to give the Lady Wave the lead.

The domination continued in the second half, and Brooks Turner iced the game with a looping goal over the Loyd Star goalkeeper’s outstretched hands in the 14th minute of the second half.

It was the first district win for Cathedral, as they improved their district record to 1-3.

The Lady Wave next play Friday night at Tylertown before coming back home to take on Vicksburg Saturday morning.