MARS HILL, N.C. — The Catawba College men's soccer team travels west for a Friday night showdown at Mars Hill, looking to seize an opportunity to enter the South Atlantic Conference playoffs picture.

All Tied Up
- Catawba used a late penalty kick goal to force a stalemate at Emory & Henry on Sunday
- The draw was Catawba's second consecutive and third in five matches, following even tilts at Coker (Oct. 1) and Wingate (Oct. 14)
- Adriano Melo provided the game-tying tally for his second career strike
- However, a pair of red cards in the match will leave the Catawba Indians short two of their five leading scorers in the High Country

Postseason Potential
- With three SAC matches left on the schedule, Catawba is one of five teams with 6-7 points in the league table who fight for the final three seeds in the playoff bracket
- Mars Hill (at seven points) has one more game played than the rest of the group, making a Lion loss to Catawba and/or Coker (who both have six points) costly
- At best, the Catawba Indians could get the third or fourth seed if Emory & Henry and Lenoir-Rhyne go winless with three and two matches left, respectively
- Per MasseyRatings.com, the most likely scenario has Catawba drawing MHU and LR with a win over Newberry to clinch the No. 6 or 7 seed in a tiebreaker scenario with Coker

All-Time Series
- The blue and white boast a 32-17-1 ledger against the Lions all-time, leading the goal differential by a whopping 164-69
- With the Lions hosting, Catawba has remained solid with a 15-7 record
- Although Mars Hill swiped a 2-1 victory in Salisbury last year, Catawba took the previous pair of meetings including a 2-1 win of its own at Meares Stadium

Scouting the Lions
- Mars Hill is 3-4-7 overall and 1-3-4 against conference foes, but picked up a quality result on Tuesday with a 1-1 draw at undefeated, seventh-ranked Young Harris
- Like the Catawba Indians, MHU is seeking its first win in over three weeks dating back to the 1-0 triumph against Wingate on the first of the month
- The Lions graduated Peter Plougmand, who netted 25 goals last season to nab SAC Male Athlete of the Year and D2CCA Ron Lenz National Player of the Year honors before starting his pro career with MLS Next Pro side Chattanooga FC
- MHU's offensive contributions have been spread out, but Logan Cassel has been a constant in net with a .674 save percentage and six shutouts

Follow Along
- All South Atlantic Conference matches are broadcast live on FloCollege
- Live stats will be available on marshilllions.com