SALISBURY, N.C. — The Catawba College men's soccer team's 2025 campaign came to a close on Wednesday night with a 2-1 loss to Lenoir-Rhyne at Frock Field.
TEAM STATS
- Catawba (5-7-3, 1-6-3 SAC) trailed Lenoir-Rhyne (7-4-3, 6-2-2 SAC) by three shots in each half, firing nine shots to the Bears' 15
- Over half of the visitors' attempts were on goal while Catawba did not register an on-target shot until the second half, resulting in an 8-2 differential
- Both sides earned four corner kick opportunities; LR tallied two in each period as the Catawba Indians had one in the opening half and three in the final 45 minutes
- The blue and white were whistled for more fouls by a 13-8 margin while both teams were shown three yellow cards – alternating Catawba-LR three times
INDIVIDUAL STATS
- Giovanni Benericetti delivered his second career goal on a lone on-target shot
- Adriano Melo also connected on an accurate attempt, his only of the night
- Carlos Zapata led the squad in total shots with four, followed by Benericetti and Lukas García Huidobro with two apiece
- Héctor Vara hauled in six saves, marking his second-best value against a South Atlantic Conference program
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
- After an unremarkable first 10 minutes, Zapata and LR's Macoy Strawn traded off-target blows to the bench side – right and left, respectively
- Catawba drew the contest's first corner kick in the 23rd minute, but the Bears swiftly dealt it out of attacking space
- LR saw its best chance of the night at the 30-minute mark as Hector Taboada booted back-to-back shots at point-blank range on the right post, but Vara stood tall to deny the chance
- The Bears rebounded from a yellow card by driving into offensive territory, drawing a corner kick, and scoring on it as Raul Canas one-timed the volley sent in by Daniel Martinez to make it 1-0 LR at the half
Second Half
- Three early shots by LR were answered by two from Catawba, who were hindered by two offside infractions in a 101-second span
- A swing of offense in the 71st minute culminated in Vito Venaría slipping a pass to Benericetti who side-stepped a defender and sent a right-footed strike into the twine for the equalizer
- Melo tested the Bear goalie with an on-target delivery in the 77th minute, shortly before the Catawba Indians were shown two cards and LR one in a three-minute period
- The guests flipped a Catawba scoring opportunity into a promising drive of their own as Martinez went one-on-one the length of the field and found Taboada on an outlet pass whose brisk blast gave LR the lead with 6:50 to go
- Zapata looked to tally a second equalizer but the attempt was blocked as the Bears put two more shots on goal in the final minute, both of which were stopped by Vara, to emerge with the 2-1 result
WRAP-UP
- Catawba concludes the season with a 5-7-3 overall record, going 1-6-3 in conference play
- Máté Kenyeres finishes his senior campaign atop the SAC regular-season leaderboard with eight goals, 16 points and 35 total shots
- Benericetti ranks third in the league for assists as one of a quartet to collect four dimes
- Six players are set to graduate from the program, but could potentially return if the NCAA's pending five-year eligibility legislation passes
