The Cavs weren’t soaked with sweat at their under-the-lights Homecoming game against Cristo Rey, which they won 5-0. They were soaked by the downpour that began immediately after kickoff.
“I really hope it doesn’t rain,” freshman Smita Sikaria said after noticing clouds gathering as she took her seat. “That would suck. They’ve been working pretty hard this week.”
After kickoff, which began with the Cavs in possession, spectators pulled out blankets and umbrellas. However, many attendees came unprepared and had to take cover underneath some trees.
Freshman Lily Brown had on three layers, a scarf and a windbreaker but said that she was still cold.
The Cavs remained unfazed by the bad weather and tried attacking the Saints’ goal. Sophomore Avi Bhullar fell and was nearly taken out of the game before sophomore Natalie Brown scored the first goal. Brown went on to score all five goals, and each time Saints’ coach Stephen Macias pointed out the goal to his players in frustration.
The Cavs on the benches screeched whenever they came close to scoring. Macias had the Saints run laps and do dynamic stretches while on the benches.
Even though the rain died down in the second half, by the end of the game, both teams were sloshing through the drenched field.
All three bleachers were filled by parents, teachers, Saints’ supporters, and students, who had made posters, which fell apart, for a few players. One bleacher was full of high-school boys who cheered throughout the game, threw up their hands when offsides was called on Evann Rudek twice, and jumped onto the field after sophomore Natalie Brown’s third goal.
Brooke Wells, head of high school, set up his grill on the blacktop and provided free hot dogs for the entire game, even when the rain became really thick.
“Wow, (Wells) is really dedicated,” Sikaria said when she saw Wells drenched, but still grilling.
The Saints have played six games in their season and won one of them.
There were 17 Cavs and 14 Saints at the game. Freshman Katia Dahmani, sophomore Alexa Mathisen and juniors Jenny Kerbs, Maddy Judd, Elinor Hilton and Aidan Galati weren’t there.
Senior Melissa Vazquez said that despite the team’s large size, compared to previous seasons, the Cavs’ motivation for coming to practice has been weak.
“In my freshman year, we had a pretty good team like this one,” Vazquez said. “Some people are pretty flakey this year, which makes our team seem a lot smaller than it really is in a lot of our games. We barely have half the team out each day at practice.
“People aren’t used to taking soccer seriously because for the last couple years, we weren’t very good.”
The Cavs’ next game will be at home against Our Lady of Guadalupe School on Tuesday, April 28.
