NATCHEZ &045; The Rick Freeman era of Cathedral soccer went off without a hitch at D’Evereux Stadium Tuesday.

Freeman, the Green Wave’s first-year coach who replaced Rocky Kettering, watched his senior laden team stumble from the gates, then regain its gait well before the stretch run.

Veterans Nicholas Anderson, Palmer Rinehart and Wyler Murray accounted for all the points as Cathedral cruised to a 5-1 victory of Class 4A McComb.

&uot;Everything we’ve been working on in practice they finally put into play tonight,&uot; said Freeman, a former Mississippi High School Athletic Association referee. &uot;They said before the game that they were nervous to see how they were going to perform. For lack of a better term, they were able to shake off the demons tonight.&uot;

Anderson collected a hat trick off an a pair of precise assists from Murray and one from the foot of Rinehart.

Meanwhile Rinehart, the prolific senior forward, scored the game’s first goal after the ball deflected off a Tiger player. Later in the first period, Rinehart took an indirect kick from Anderson and knuckled it low to the ground into the back of the net.

&uot;Cathedral always has a good team,&uot; McComb head coach Mike Burkett said. &uot;You can tell the players have played together for a long time. They were putting passes where nobody was, but someone would make a run to get there. You’re looking at six or seven years of familiarity out there.&uot;

Murray’s two assists to Anderson were picture perfect. On the first, with the Wave staking to their 3-1 halftime lead, Murray sailed a direct kick from his side of the field over the McComb defense to a wide-open Anderson, who had lost his defender with a nifty move.

Anderson, watched the ball bounce in front of him, settled it and fired it past Tiger keeper Corey Granger, who had come out of goal to contest the shot.

&uot;It’s an advantage to have that and something we’ve worked on in practice,&uot; Freeman said of his team’s sixth sense. &uot;They know each other and what the other is going to do. We tell them how to use that to their advantage.&uot;

On the last goal, the Wave did not necessarily have numbers in the McComb box, but it didn’t seem to matter much.

Murray knifed a pass off the outside of his right foot to a streaking Anderson, who went to the fat part of the net for the his second goal of the half, in the 26th minute.

Things early were of greater concern. After Rinehart’s pinball score in the 12th minute, Tiger forward Ryan Causey bobbed and weaved his way through three Cathedral defenders in order to take a shot on keeper Thomas Ater.

After spinning a couple Greenie fullbacks like tops, Causey locked and loaded top shelf out of Ater’s reach to knot the contest 1-all in the 16th minute.

&uot;That’s the first time ever I think we’ve been tied with (Cathedral),&uot; Burkett said. &uot;Their first goal, we got a little unlucky because it bounced off our fullback. But they got those two quick ones at the end of the half. We had opportunities in the second but couldn’t capitalize.&uot;

The telling sign in the final 40 minutes was ball positioning. Cathedral was able to get a lot of shots on goal because its defense was not allowing the Tigers many chances on is side of the field.

Freeman took the blame for some players being out of positioning in the first, adding the second half shutout was what he hoped for.

&uot;I was thrilled the defense held them scoreless in the second half,&uot; he said. &uot;McComb is a tough team that played hard tonight.&uot;

McComb girls 5, Cathedral 0

Lady Tiger first-year players Hayley Spiers scored two goals and Niara Crimiel scored one, as McComb spoiled the debut of Lady Green Wave head coach Christine Krupa.

Crimiel’s goal came in the ninth minute, but everything was quiet until late in the half when Spiers connected on her first and Allison Casciola added another within a minute for a 3-0 lead at the break.

&uot;They played a little recreation soccer,&uot; Burkett said of Crimiel and Spiers. &uot;Both have pretty good speed. We’ve always been slow, so it’s nice to be able to outrun somebody.&uot;

The Lady Wave had several shots on goal from first-year forward Kate Ellard, who was able to shake-and-bake through the box. However, Ellard’s attempts were repeatedly thwarted by McComb keeper Rebecca Howard.

&uot;Right now we’ve got some people who are a little confused about the rules,&uot; Krupa said. &uot;We had some unlucky things happen. Once we get that figured out and people continue to grind, I think the aggressiveness will catch on.&uot;