Stiffler locks down; Men's Soccer shuts out Pioneers in stalemate

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – The Catawba College men's soccer team refused Tusculum its first South Atlantic Conference victory on Sunday, forcing a scoreless draw at Pioneer Field.

TEAM STATS

- The squads' numbers ended up nearly identical as both Catawba (2-3-5, 1-2-3 SAC) and Tusculum (0-5-2, 0-2-2 SAC) fired nine shots with five on net

- Corner kicks slightly favored the Catawba Indians at 5-4

- The Pioneers were penalized for 19 fouls and two yellow cards while the blue and white fouled 18 times with two cautions

- Tusculum relinquished six offensive chances due to offside whistles compared to Catawba's three

- Catawba won the possession battle, controlling the ball for 55 percent of the contest

INDIVIDUAL STATS

- Graduate student Zak Stiffler corralled a season-high five saves to record his 13th career shutout

- Sebastia Cerda-Tous delivered two shots, sending both toward the Pioneer net to pace the attacking corps

- Jaime Serrano, Sioni Benham, and Tomas Kelly each blasted one shot on goal

- Six Catawba field players spent all 90 minutes in the match

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Half

- Tusculum's Devin Vital missed high on the match's initial shot in the 11th minute

- A trio of offside whistles prevented the Pioneers from creating additional offense until Vital fired again, pushing it wide right with a 30th-minute delivery

- Catawba received a free kick via yellow card in the 37th minute, setting up Jacopo Suagher for the side's first shot

- The final three minutes featured a Catawba corner kick that produced a blocked shot by Garrett Alban and a saved attempt from Kelly

Second Half

- Stiffler stepped up to make his first save of the day 1:52 into the second stanza on a Lars Schutrups free kick

- Cerda-Tous whipped a shot from the corner of the box that Noe Delmotte knocked away in the 50th minute as Benham came up empty on a left-footer in the 63rd

- Asbjorn Saevik saw his 78th-minute attempt get tipped out by Stiffler to Enoch Brako whose bicycle kick sailed wide

- On the opposite end, Cerda-Tous had a deflected shot toward the twine get saved before the Pioneers flipped the field and Stiffler denied a Mason Clark opportunity

- The Catawba Indians earned four corner kicks in the last five minutes, yielding a lone shot by Serrano whose header fell short as the sides settled for a 0-0 final

UP NEXT

On deck for Catawba is a four-match homestand beginning on Wednesday, Oct. 16 against Wingate. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. at Frock Field.