MATTHEWS, N.C. – The Catawba men's soccer team defeated third-seeded Anderson in the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) Tournament Semifinals 3-1 on Friday afternoon, advancing to Sunday's championship game.
Freshman Diogo Correia delivered his best performance of the season, tallying three points on a goal and an assist in 90 minutes of action. Defenders Luis Rodrigues and Igor Gonçalves provided a strong impact on both sides of the field, with each going the distance and scoring goals. Goalkeeper Héctor Vara was impressive, smothering five Trojans shots.
Catawba (14-1-2, 8-1-1 SAC) outshot Anderson (10-3-4, 5-2-3 SAC) 12-11. The Trojans put six on goal, while the blue and white put five on target.
Anderson fired the game's first shot on goal in the 13th minute, but Vara made a quality diving save. Less than a minute later, Correia found an opening and put an attempt on target, but to no avail as the game remained scoreless.
In the 30th minute, Breno Andreucci lined up a shot from outside the box that just missed the mark upstairs.
Catawba was able to break through when Correia fired a laser from the left side, finding the back of the net to give the Catawba Indians a 1-0 lead in the 34th minute.
Vara saved two more Trojans' attempts, and the blue and white went to the halftime break with the advantage.
Just three minutes into the second period, Anderson committed a handball inside the box, and Catawba was awarded a penalty kick. Rodrigues took the attempt and made it successful by finding the right side of the net to increase the lead to two.
The Trojans would respond in the 52nd minute following a corner kick, cutting into Catawba's advantage with a goal to make it 2-1.
Gonçalves answered with his first goal of the season by heading in a perfect crossing pass from Correia off a corner kick in the 61st minute to put Catawba back up two.
10 minutes later, Anderson created a strong opportunity inside the box, but Vara stonewalled the shot in another outstanding diving effort, and Catawba would hang on to win 3-1, advancing to the SAC Tournament Championship game.
The Catawba Indians will square off with top-seeded Emory & Henry at 1 p.m. Sunday, November 8th at the Sportsplex at Matthews, located in Matthews, N.C. for the SAC Tournament Championship.
Additional information about the South Atlantic Conference Championship Tournament can be found at the link below:
SAC TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
