TIGERVILLE, S.C. – The Catawba College men's soccer program kicks off its 2025 schedule this week, visiting North Greenville on Thursday followed by a Saturday night clash at Francis Marion. Both kickoff times are set for 7 p.m. in the Palmetto State.
At the Helm
- First-year head coach Alex Morais takes the reins as the 15th gaffer in Catawba men's soccer history
- Morais' coaching resume spans from junior college to Division I
- He led Murray State College to NJCAA Region II regular-season and tournament championships in 2024
- Prior to MSC, he was an assistant at University of Charleston (NCAA Division II), head coach at Lincoln Trail College (NJCAA), and graduate assistant at SIU Edwardsville (NCAA Division I)
- A native of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Morais played college soccer at UCWV and Illinois-Springfield
Preseason SAC Voting
- South Atlantic Conference coaches ranked Catawba eighth in the 12-team preseason poll
- In 2024, Catawba finished the regular season in seventh place
- However, Emory & Henry is expected to make a jump due to the hiring of former Limestone coach Ali Al-Gashamy and over a dozen Saints resulting from the school's closure
- Bautista Vecchi Ramello was named to the Preseason All-SAC Team following his Third Team All-Conference appointment as a sophomore last season
- Returners Vito Venaría, who missed the entirety of 2024 due to injury, and Tomas Kelly were highlighted as players to watch
Around the World
- The Catawba roster features 30 student-athletes hailing from 13 different countries on four unique continents
- Internationals account for 83% of the roster (25/30)
- All five domestic players claim North Carolina as their home state
- Other than the US, Japan is the most popular country with four representatives
- Europeans account for roughly half of the team with 13 players from nine nations
JUCO Influence
- Morais and assistant coach Ignacio Toledo, who both came to Salisbury by way of Murray State College, brought a handful of student-athletes from two-year programs
- Carlos Zapata and Arthur Bastos followed the coaches to Catawba after spending their rookie campaigns at MSC in 2024
- Adriano Melo attended two junior colleges, starting at Cowley College (where he was a teammate of returner Máté Kenyeres) before a year at Tyler JC
- Uki Yoshida was a freshman last year at Lincoln Trail College; Venaría also played in the Midwest with one season at Iowa Western CC
Scouting the Trailblazers
- Last year's North Greenville squad posted a 3-3-8 record, boasting a 2-0 record in non-conference play but a rough 0-2-4 ledger at Pepsi Stadium
- NGU recorded the third-most draws in Division II during the 2024 season; meanwhile, Catawba tied six times to set its program record
- All-Conference Carolinas goalkeeper Ricardo Marques is back after holding an .821 save percentage, the eighth-best nationwide
- All-CC honoree Vinicius Silva returns to the offense as he comes off recording a team-high four assists while netting one goal
Scouting the Patriots
- Francis Marion is the Conference Carolinas favorite after taking the league crown and securing an NCAA Tournament berth last season, finishing with a 10-5-7 record
- The Catawba Indians and Patriots squared off at Hartzler Field last year on Sep. 18, resulting in a 3-1 decision that gave Catawba its first loss through five matches; Vecchi Ramello had the visitors' lone goal
- Like Catawba, who was fourth nationally, FMU is a year removed from a top-10 corner kicks average at 6.36 opportunities (ninth in Division II)
- United Soccer Coaches All-Region selections Mario Buelga and David Guevara are among the Pats' key returners
Did You Know?
- Catawba's baseball team defeated NGU twice to win the 2025 NCAA Southeast Regional Championship
- North Greenville University is located in Tigerville, S.C.; the school was originally named for Greenville County, not the city of Greenville
- Francis Marion is named for the brigadier general by the same name, also known as "the Swamp Fox", who fought in the French and Indian War as well as the Revolutionary War
- FMU is the newest four-year university in South Carolina, being founded in 1970; for comparison, Catawba is 119 years older
Follow Along
- Both matches will be streamed on the Conference Carolinas Digital Network
- Live stats are available on nguathletics.com and fmupatriots.com
