SALISBURY, N.C. – Joe Bennett struck via penalty kick but the Catawba College men's soccer team fell to Mars Hill, 2-1, in the season's final home contest on Saturday evening.
TEAM STATS
- The Catawba Indians (5-4-5, 3-3-3 SAC) dominated the shot count 19-10 as the on-goal ledger ended at an even 4-4
- Mars Hill (8-2-2, 5-2-1 SAC) gave Catawba 32 free kicks, committing 25 fouls and seven offsides, while the hosts were whistled for 10 infractions in a physical match
- The Lions possessed a slight lead in corner kicks, earning six to Division II leader Catawba's five
- Catawba had possession for 59 percent of the matchup including a large portion of the second half
INDIVIDUAL STATS
- Bennett found paydirt on his first career PK attempt after Sioni Benham drew a foul in the box
- The shots category was led by Bennett and Salano Birch with six and five, respectively, as the Catawba vets had two on-goal darts apiece
- Zak Stiffler made one stop between the pipes to help limit the nation's sixth-best scoring offense to one goal per half
- Jaime Serrano denied the Lions with a stoppage on open net, recording a pivotal team save
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
- Adrian Faus' third-minute shot was turned away by Serrano who filled an opening in goal for a team save between two offside whistles
- A wave of Lion offense commenced after Birch managed Catawba's first shot in the ninth minute, culminating in the South Atlantic Conference's top scorer Peter Plougmand hitting the twine from distance
- The blue and white were getting shots off but got stuffed in doing so as MHU blocked three shots in less than 10 minutes
- The second Catawba corner was inches from conversion but Bennett's 41st-minute delivery got intercepted by a Lion defender in the goal box, upholding the 1-0 MHU lead going into halftime
Second Half
- Four fouls against the Lions started the second period, the last of which occurred in the penalty area to award the Catawba Indians a penalty kick; Bennett buried the equalizer
- 76 seconds later, Plougmand received help from Bruno Fornes as he finished a long run down the sideline with the go-ahead goal
- Two Catawba corners were unable to be parlayed into scores, instead producing shots by Plougmand and Faus to no avail
- The hosts missed high and wide on shots in the late minutes as MHU held on for a 2-1 win, maintaining a top-four spot in the league table
UP NEXT
Catawba travels down to Newberry on Wednesday, Oct. 30 for a 3:30 p.m. tilt against the Wolves.
