The Cathedral soccer team surprised its district last year by finishing first and hosting a playoff game for the first time in school history.

The loss to St. Andrews has revised coach Rocky Kettering’s modest goals for this season.

&uot;We’d like to win the district again, obviously, but we’d also like to make it past the first round of the playoffs,&uot; he said. &uot;You don’t want to look to far ahead.&uot;

To reach his first goal, Kettering need only look ahead to 7 p.m. tonight, and the home match against Franklin County which will decide the district champion.

Cathedral (7-5, 3-1) can earn a critical fourth district win, making Thursday’s game at Wesson irrelevant.

&uot;If we win, we lock up first place,&uot; Kettering said, and Cathedral will then host a playoff game on Saturday against the runner-up of another district. A loss today will likely earn the Green Wave a second-place finish, and a trip Saturday to play a district champion.

&uot;This is extremely important,&uot; Kettering said. &uot;You strive all season to be district champions for just that reason. You get to play at home and you play a weaker team.&uot;

Cathedral unfortunately doesn’t play a weak team in Franklin County. The Bulldogs handed Cathedral their only district loss, a 2-1 contest in November.

&uot;We shot 36 times and made one, they shot eight times and made two. Go figure,&uot; Kettering said. &uot;But their keeper – Cole Zumbro – is fantastic. We should have made that extra pass instead of taking the first shot. It’s hard to score on him.&uot;

Franklin County also features the talents of Clint Herring, who has scored more goals in the district than anyone – except Cathedral’s John Erick Myers.

&uot;Who wins the game will probably be decided by which of them scores the most,&uot; Kettering said. &uot;Whoever wins in that battle will probably end up district MVP.&uot;

In spite of the early loss to Franklin County, Kettering said the Bulldogs are facing a different team than they did in November.

&uot;We’ve improved a lot since then,&uot; he said. &uot;We’re on a four-game winning streak, got a little momentum heading into the playoffs.&uot;

And the Wave is prepared for this game, he added.

&uot;I’ve been playing this game over and over in my head for weeks,&uot; he said. &uot;There’s nothing that could happen on that field that hasn’t already run through my head at 2 a.m.

&uot;We shouldn’t have lost that (first) game,&uot; he said. &uot;We had them beat everywhere but the scoreboard.&uot;

The varsity girls play first at 5:30 p.m.