HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Catawba men's soccer team came back to defeat Lincoln Memorial 2-1 on the road Wednesday night to remain undefeated on the season and earn a crucial three points in the South Atlantic Conference standings.
Gabriel Miranda was outstanding, producing a goal and an assist to lead the charge. The senior also fired three shots, with two coming on goal. Alex Payton continued his remarkable sophomore campaign, nailing his fifth game-winner of the season. The midfielder posted game-highs of five shots and three on goal. Héctor Vara matched his season-high of five saves in a gutsy effort in the crease.
João Magalhães and Igor Gonçalves both put a shot on goal. Leo Souza, Guilherme Quintas and Álvaro Díaz all gave 90 quality minutes on the defensive end.
Catawba (11-0-2, 7-0-1 SAC) outshot the Railsplitters 14-13 and 7-6 on goal. Lincoln Memorial (6-4-3, 4-3-1, SAC) earned six corner kicks to Catawba's four. Three yellow cards were assessed in the physical contest.
Catawba controlled possession early, but Lincoln Memorial was able to strike first in the 21st minute when a Railsplitter worked free on a breakaway and precisely placed a shot in the bottom left corner of the net to take the early lead.
Like countless times this season, the Catawba Indians turned defense into offense in the 42nd minute when Breno Andreucci found Miranda ahead of the pack before the midfielder dribbled inside the box and sent the ball past the diving keeper to even the score at one apiece in a classy response.
Catawba went into the half holding a slight edge in time of possession, outshooting the Railsplitters 9-6, with four shots on goal, holding Lincoln Memorial to two while each team earned a pair of corners.
Lincoln Memorial threatened in the 52nd with a shot from inside the box, but Vara made a terrific leaping save to keep the score deadlocked.
In the 63rd minute, an errant Railsplitters' pass was collected by Miranda before he delivered a perfect centering pass to Payton, who booted in his conference-leading 7th goal of the season and gave Catawba a 2-1 lead.
Payton broke free again in the 80th minute on the right side and fired a strong shot attempt on target, but the Lincoln Memorial goalkeeper made a tremendous save to keep it a one-score game.
The Railsplitters made a final push in the 88th minute, but their two shot attempts were off the mark and Catawba held on, picking up the massive SAC victory and completing a perfect 6-0 road record on the season.
Catawba currently leads the SAC standings with 22 conference points, narrowly ahead of Emory & Henry (20) and Carson-Newman (16), with each team having two matches left to play.
The Catawba Indians will host Carson-Newman for Senior Night at Frock Field on Saturday, October 24th at 4:30 p.m. for another important SAC matchup.
