SALISBURY, N.C. – The Catawba men's soccer team stayed unbeaten by winning its fourth straight match on Saturday evening, shutting out Mars Hill 2-0.
Alex Payton continued his unprecedented run by recording his fourth straight match with a game-winning goal. The sophomore also led the Catawba Indians with three shots on goal.
Gabriel Miranda scored his first goal with the blue and white.
Luis Rodrigues added another assist, marking three straight games with at least one point.
Guilherme Quintas notched his first career assist.
Diogo Correia led the team with four shots, placing two on goal.
Catawba (4-0-1, 2-0-0 SAC) delivered its third straight shutout behind another strong defensive performance. The blue and white outshot Mars Hill (2-2-2, 0-1-0 SAC) 15-4, with seven coming on target. The hounding defense did not allow a single Lions' shot on goal. The Catawba Indians had four corner kicks while Mars Hill were presented two. The Lions were given four yellow cards and Catawba received one.
Payton did his damage early, scoring in the eighth minute off a great feed from Rodrigues from right in front of the net. Payton would then fire two more shots in the 14th minute.
A rainstorm began in Salisbury, making scoring opportunities difficult for both sides as Catawba went into halftime leading 1-0.
Play started to get chippy between both sides as Catawba finished with 11 fouls and Mars Hill recorded 10.
A free kick was awarded to the Catawba Indians in the 79th minute, which Quintas recovered and found Miranda wide open in front of the goal to put the game out of reach and give Catawba the 2-0 victory.
Goalkeeper
Héctor Vara recorded his third straight clean sheet, this time not facing any shots on target. His defensive unit of
Leo Souza,
Igor Gonçalves and Quintas all went the distance in another dominant effort.
The Catawba men's soccer team will return to Frock Field on Wednesday, September 16, when it hosts Virginia State for the
Fletcher Harris Memorial Game at 7 p.m.
