NATCHEZ — Maddy Christian’s right foot was all the Cathedral School girls’ soccer team needed Saturday to defeat Natchez High School.

Three of Christian’s shots found the back of the net as the Lady Green Wave defeated the Lady Bulldogs 3-1 at Tom F. Williams Memorial Stadium at Natchez High School.

“Kimble Devening and Anna Margaret Foster on the wings did a great job feeding the ball into Maddy Christian and Zoe Flattmann,” head coach Kate Ellard said. “I do think we did well. We came out a little slow but by the end of the game we were really communicating and moving the ball.”

Cathedral took a 2-0 lead into halftime after Christian scored on a free kick early in the half and added another goal late in the half. But Natchez did not go away easy in the second half.

Shamarra Grover found the back of the net on a free kick for the Lady Bulldogs to cut the deficit to one with 16 minutes left in the game. The Lady Bulldogs managed a couple more chances before Christian netted the put-away goal with three minutes to go in the game.

“I thought we did really good,” Natchez head coach Aaliyah Davis said. “We are improving. I thought we could have pushed forward a little more in the second half, but we are working on that.”

The early-season matchup of cross-town opponents gave both coaches plenty of material to help improve their clubs.

Davis said the Lady Bulldogs (0-3) need to improve their teamwork and communication before facing Wesson Tuesday.

Cathedral (2-1) also still has room to improve, Ellard said.

“We have plenty to work on for our next match,” she said.

That match is Tuesday at North Pike.

Cathedral boys 2, Natchez 1

A second half siege by the Natchez High School boys’ soccer team managed to give Cathedral School a scare but fell just short of tying the game, which the Green Wave won 2-1 Saturday.

Cathedral used two throw-ins to build a 2-0 lead in the first half. The first came when Colton Webb hurled the ball toward the Natchez net, and it deflected off Natchez’s Jarell Morris into the Bulldog net.

Cathedral’s Dale Matheney scored the second when Webb’s throw-in found Matheney, and the senior managed to put it in the goal for a two-goal advantage.

“At first we were very composed,” Cathedral head coach Dennis Houge said. “We talked about how (Natchez) has a lot of speed, and they go at it. But we stayed composed and controlled the ball early.”

But the Bulldogs’ pressure forced Hogue to sweat through the second half.

“I was holding my breath a lot,” he said.

Natchez cut Cathedral’s lead to one midway through the second half when senior Herbert Steadman scored. Steadman had a chance to tie the game a few minutes later, but Cathedral goalkeeper Daniel Garrity made one of his several game-saving saves.

Natchez dropped to 2-1-1 on the season overall, but head coach Dai Vu said he was pleased with the way the team played.

“We tried really hard,” Vu said. “We stayed and played tough. We’re not going to change overnight, but the season is starting very good. We’ve got a lot of seniors, and they really want to play, they are disciplined and they listen.”

Hogue said he was proud of the way Cathedral (2-1) held on late to win. The Green Wave will face North Pike Tuesday, while Natchez travels to Wesson.