SALISBURY, N.C. – Braces by Bautista Vecchi-Ramello and Mate Kenyeres headlined a full-throttle attack from the Catawba College men's soccer team in a resounding 7-1 win over first-year program Virginia State on Tuesday night.
TEAM STATS
- Catawba (5-3-5) hit the 30-shot mark for a second consecutive match including 20 shots on goal while holding Virginia State (1-9-1) to six shots, four on target
- Entering with the third-best corner kick mark in Division II, Catawba bolstered its standing with 14 corners compared to three for VSU
- No cards were shown but the Trojans absorbed 16 fouls to Catawba's 13
- All seven offside calls went against the Catawba Indians
- The blue and white logged 65 percent of the total time of possession, spending most of the match in its attacking half
INDIVIDUAL STATS
- Vecchi-Ramello boosted his team scoring lead with two goals and an assist, tying his career high of five points
- Kenyeres hurled in the first two scores of his Catawba career in just 22 minutes of action
- Sophomore defender Richard Leon had a night to remember, netting his first collegiate goal with a helper
- Tomas Kelly and Tino Lira each found the back of the net once, totaling five different goal scorers
- Jacopo Suagher, Kenny Hassler, Joe Bennett, and Sioni Benham were tabbed with one assist apiece
- Turning in 64 minutes of unblemished soccer was Zak Stiffler as the graduate student tacked on two saves, while Fletcher Harris logged a save with one goal allowed via penalty kick in his 26-minute stint between the posts
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
- Catawba commanded possession early and often but VSU stood tall on two early shots by Sebastia Cerda-Tous
- Vecchi-Ramello bent in a feed from Suagher in the 21st minute to break the silence
- Under three minutes later, Hassler followed his own rebound with a backheel to Vecchi-Ramello's header into paydirt
- The Catawba Indians broke up the first Trojan corner kick, flipping the field to set up Lira for his 34th-minute, second career score
- VSU goalkeeper Sean Roach and the Trojan defense fizzled three Catawba corners in the period's last eight minutes, limiting the damage to 3-0 at halftime
Second Half
- The hosts came out of the break swinging as Leon sent a pass into the box to Kenyeres who booted his first Catawba Indian dart 3:03 into the period
- Leon chalked up a goal of his own moments later, delivering a blast from outside the 18-yard box to reach the 5-0 mark
- The second brace of the night was completed when Bennett connected with Kenyeres as the Hungarian's shot deflected off the goalie's mitts but drifted into the twine
- A left-footed strike from Kelly distributed by Benham upped the Trojan deficit to seven
- With 10 minutes to go, Sebastine Daniel was fouled in the penalty area to draw a PK. Daniel took the shot, firing down the middle as Harris dove right for his third goal of the season
- Caleb Christner and Hugo Tejera sought revenge with shots shortly after, but Xavier Brisbon refused both attempts as Catawba sent its graduates out in 7-1 fashion
UP NEXT
Catawba plays its final regular-season home match on Saturday, Oct. 26 against Mars Hill. First touch is scheduled for 5 p.m.
