Men’s Soccer outlasted by nationally-ranked Coker

SALISBURY, N.C. – Bautista Vecchi-Ramello's fourth goal of the year was not enough to lift the Catawba College men's soccer team over No. 18 Coker on Wednesday at Frock Field as the Cobras snagged a 3-1 South Atlantic Conference triumph.

TEAM STATS

- Catawba (1-3-4, 0-2-2 SAC) directed four shots on goal, outnumbering the Cobras (6-1, 3-1 SAC) who netted goals on each of their three

- In total shots, Coker possessed an 11-9 advantage over the blue and white

- The Catawba Indians were called for fewer fouls at a 19-13 differential and had no offside penalties versus Coker's quartet, but the hosts were shown a season-high five yellow cards in a contest that totaled nine

- Despite once being the nation's leader in corner kicks per game, Catawba was held to a season-low three opportunities for the third time in four games; the visitors earned four chances, all in the second half

- Catawba maintained a 57-43 edge in the possession percentage battle, using 35 percent of its time with the rock in the defensive midfield

INDIVIDUAL STATS

- Vecchi-Ramello struck on his third on-target shot, fronting the Catawba charge with four total shots

- Noah Sapsford and Kenny Hassler provided the assisting touches on the lone Catawba Indian bullseye to mark both players' second career helper

- Joe Bennett also registered a shot on goal, his second of the year

- Greg Chatzopoulos logged his first career 90-minute night in his second start, one of four field players to go the distance

- Zak Stiffler manned the box for the full contest without recording a save

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Half

- Bennett and Vecchi-Ramello tallied the first two shots on goal after a pair of Cobra attempts sailed high and wide

- Coker opened the scoring in the 26th minute when Frederic Benedix blasted a left-footer from 20 yards out, tucking it inside the right post

- Seconds after Catawba got a free kick in the backfield thanks to Coker being offside, Jesper Schierholz stripped the ball away at the top of the box and sent a missile to the twine

- A promising drive following a Cobra misfire resulted in solid passes by Hassler and Sapsford to find Vecchi-Ramello whose strike cut the gap to 2-1 heading into halftime

Second Half

- The second stanza, quiet for the first 17 minutes, was brought to life when Vitalis Takawira Jr. capped a lengthy run with a lead pass to Oskar Kaufmann as the Cobras' top scorer got his sixth tally of the season

- Catawba moved quickly in an attempt for vengeance, getting shots from Vecchi-Ramello and Sebastia Cerda-Tous in the ensuing minutes

- While the home defense stuffed three Coker shots, its offense was met with greater stinginess from the Cobras who did not allow another shot after the 67th minute to bag three points

UP NEXT

Queued up for the Catawba Indians is a contest at Anderson on Saturday, Oct. 5 that kicks off at 7:30 p.m.