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HATTIESBURG — With the match out of reach, Cathedral High School varsity girls’ head soccer coach Dennis Hogue made the decision to pull starting goalkeeper Mollie Foster and put her in the field.

Foster scored what turned out to be the only goal for the Lady Green Wave in the 70th minute with an assist from Lillie Bertelsen, but that just kept them from being shut out as they lost to the Hattiesburg Forerunners 5-1 Thursday afternoon.

“We had a 15-man roster with four on the bench. They probably had enough for two full teams,” Hogue said. “They had 26 players on their roster. They were aggressive, physical and much larger. All things considered, I think we played fine.”

Hogue added that the 100-plus degree heat was a big factor as the Hattiesburg 4-Runners were able to substitute more frequently than Cathedral.

“All our bench players are newcomers. Considering how hot it was and having just four players on the bench, I’m pushing them to the limit. That heat is a huge factor right now,” Hogue said.

While playing at goalkeeper for much of the game, Foster finished with 24 saves.

Cathedral (0-2) returns to MAIS Division II – South play next Monday when it travels to Amite, La. to take on Oak Forest Academy at 5:30 p.m.

Oak Forest Academy 4, Cathedral 0

NATCHEZ — Dennis Hogue would have liked to have played at least one full game before last Tuesday’s home, regular-season, and MAIS Division II – South opener against Oak Forest Academy.

But that would not be the case as Hogue said last Friday morning that the Lady Green Wave’s scheduled regular-season opener on Thursday, Aug. 3 at St. Aloysius High School was canceled because the Lady Flashes did not have enough players available.

And the Lady Yellow Jackets took advantage of the situation as they shut out Cathedral 4-0 to get an early start on the competition in district play.

“They have a new coach and the only dates left were early in the season, which is not good for us,” Hogue said. “They played fine. The girls gave it their all. They played their hearts out. The girls who have experience are fatigued and the players who come off the bench are fresh, but they are young and don’t have any experience. They gave it their all and that’s all you can ask for.”

Mollie Foster was the starting goalkeeper and her 17 saves is what kept the score from being even more lopsided.

“We make the call as to when to pull her out. She’s our starting goalkeeper. She’s also good in the field. We can’t start a rookie goalkeeper,” Hogue said.

Even though Cathedral did play three matches on Saturday, Aug. 5 at the Brookhaven Academy Tournament and went 1-2, those do not count in the record books.