A Young Katy 1895 FC Side Comes Up Short Against Shreveport Rafters FC

New NPSL expansion club Katy 1895 FC kicked off their inaugural season Saturday night at 7 pm in Katy, Texas at St. John XXIII College Preparatory School against Shreveport Rafters FC. Katy would come up short, losing 3-1 to open the season, moving them to 0-1 on the season. The win moved Shreveport to 2-0 on the season.

The Rafters would score first, striking in the 18th minute from just outside the six-yard box, to take the lead. Katy would only have one real scoring chance in the first half that was saved for a corner kick just before halftime.

Katy would strike next, finding the equalizer in the 52nd minute. Sergio Loredo would collect a rebound from the goalkeeper on the right side of the box and slide a cross into Jordi Cobo who would finish to bring the score to 1-1. Goalkeeper Harrison Veith would come up big moments later in the 54th minute saving a shot on the doorstep to keep the scoreline level. The Rafters would retake the lead in the 62nd, scoring from the left side of the field outside of the box from about 30 yards out curling a shot to the back post. The Rafters would tack on the third goal on a counter attack as Katy was pushing for the equalizer in the 94th minute to bring the score to 3-1.

Man of the Mmatch Jordi Cobo scored the first goal in club history and is heading into his sophomore year at Houston Baptist University. Sergio Loredo, tacking on the first assist in club history, is heading into his junior year at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

Katy would feature 15 players in the match, making four substitutions. Starters were Harrison Veith, Sydney Tume, Devon Grant, Jordan Bates, Dawson Palomar, Nick Coburn, Abdullah Mirza, Jordi Cobo, Sergio Loredo and Kelechi Onyewuenyi and making appearances off the bench were Walter McNeal, Donnovan Smith, Josmim Cai, and Tyler Sivadon.

The attendance for the match was around 500.

“I am looking forward to the continued growth of this team over the course of the season,” Katy 1895 FC head coach Jimmy Krueger said. “We had a few untimely mistakes that Shreveport was able to capitalize on. The game could have easily gone our way after we equalized early in the second half. It is a tough task to develop chemistry in just a short period of time, but I believe this team will continue to come together with each passing session. The potential is there. I know they will come into training this week hungry to improve. We have another tough challenge ahead of us next Saturday.”

Owners Michael and Noel Veith were quite pleased with the crowd.

“We were so excited about the fantastic support we had at our inaugural game. The Katy Force was awesome! It was great to see all the families come out to encourage our guys. We know we will continue to grow that support because we live in an area where soccer is big.”

Katy 1895 FC will be back in action on Saturday, May 19th in Conroe, Texas taking on the Houston Dutch Lions at 7 pm.

Contributor: Travis Aday/Katy 1895 FC

Photo Credit: Travis Aday/Katy 1895 FC