SALISBURY, N.C. — The 13th-ranked Catawba College men's soccer team boasted a two-goal advantage through the first 29 minutes, but Lincoln Memorial matched it and pulled ahead for a 3-2 result in South Atlantic Conference play on Saturday afternoon.
TEAM STATS
- The Catawba Indians (3-2, 1-1 SAC) totaled 15 shots, putting one-third on goal; Lincoln Memorial (2-3, 2-0 SAC) fired 11 including six on-target attempts
- The Railsplitters were whistled for twice as many fouls as Catawba with a 14-7 disparity, but the hosts were carded more often by a 3-2 margin
- LMU earned six corner kick opportunities compared to the Catawba Indians' three
- The blue and white held a slight edge in the possession realm with a 52% mark
INDIVIDUAL STATS
- Adriano Melo and Carlos Zapata accounted for Catawba's two scores, recording their first and second goals of the year
- Vito Venaría dished out his first career assist for the team's lone helper
- Máté Kenyeres led all Catawba shot-takers with five while Melo tallied two shots, followed by eight players with one attempt apiece
- Héctor Vara bagged three saves for a .500 performance in the box
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
- The opening minutes were fully in Catawba's grasp as the hosts delivered two shots that the defense blocked and a Tomas Kelly shot that got saved
- Gian-Carlo Kama registered the Railsplitters' first shot on goal in the 15th minute
- Looking to play out the back in the 19th minute, Venaría tossed up a lead pass to a sprinting Melo who continued the drive and booted in the game's first goal
- As Catawba began to threaten again, LMU jostled for possession and got it, but Zapata intercepted a pass and immediately fired a shot into the twine to take a 2-0 edge
- The Railsplitters put an offside infraction behind them and quickly set up another offensive chance that saw Thomas Chao hit the crossbar, but Kama put back the ricochet to cut the deficit in half
- In the 39th minute, LMU earned back-to-back corner kicks and parlayed the opportunity into a Hays Adams equalizer assisted by Ronan O'Mahony
Second Half
- Shortly after the break, O'Mahony connected with Kama off a corner kick for the go-ahead score
- Kenyeres and Lukas García Huidobro put shots on frame later in the period to no avail as Daniel Benedek Miklosi came up with saves
- Kenyeres launched a shot off the frame and Melo missed wide on a subsequent shot off the rebound
- Three yellow cards were issued inside the eight-minute mark
- A late charge by Catawba featured a wide-left attempt by Gabin Mazeyrat, a blocked shot taken by Alex Payton and a last-second high delivery from Luis Rodrigues
UP NEXT
Catawba is back at Frock Field next Tuesday, Sept. 23, for a non-conference tilt against Barton at 5 p.m.
