HICKORY, N.C. – The Catawba College men's soccer team traveled to Hickory to face the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears for the second time in three days in the opening round of the South Atlantic Conference on Saturday evening. The Bears scored three late goals in a four-minute span to take down Catawba, 4-1. 

The home team was first to strike in the quarterfinal matchup when LR's Adrian Martina struck a shot from the top of the box and snuck it just under the top crossbar. The held a 1-0 lead after the 25th-minute goal. 

That score stood at halftime as Catawba was outshot 11-7 in the first 45 minutes. Gage Bernard had the lone shot on goal in the first half right before halftime, but it was saved by Lenoir-Rhyne's goalkeeper. 

As the second half got underway, Catawba came out with added pressure offensively. In the first five minutes, Sebastia Cerda-Tous had a potential game-tying shot hot off the post to leave the score at 1-0. That pattern continued as the visiting Indians rattled off the first five shots of the second half. 

In the 73rd minute, Catawba broke through after a header shot by Joseph Allerton hit the post, but Matthieu Fiadjoe was there to clean things up as he corralled the rebound and sent a pass over to Bautista Vecchi-Ramello for the game-tying goal. 

That score lasted until the Bears scored three times between the 84th and 88th minutes to pull away. This late flurry of goals proved too much too late for Catawba to overcome as the men's soccer team fell in the opening round, 4-1.