Men’s Soccer defends home field, silences Wingate in 2-0 triumph

SALISBURY, N.C. – The Catawba College men's soccer team blanked Top 25 vote-receiving Wingate, 2-0, to record its first home victory of the 2024 season on a chilly Wednesday night at Frock Field.

TEAM STATS

- After each side logged eight shots in the first half, Catawba (3-3-5, 2-2-3 SAC) pulled away in the second 45 to take a 13-10 advantage in the shooting category with a 5-4 edge in on-target attempts

- Wingate (5-4-1, 3-4 SAC) committed one fewer foul than the Catawba Indians, being whistled 13 times to the hosts' 14

- Catawba was carded four times while Wingate saw two yellows

- The Bulldogs held a 9-5 corner kicks lead, taking eight in the first stanza as four of Catawba's were booted in the second half

- Possession slightly favored the 'Dogs who controlled the ball for 52 percent of the match

INDIVIDUAL STATS

- Rodrigo Albayeros found the back of the net for the first time in his career as Garrett Alban powered in the second tally of his freshman campaign

- Assists were tabbed to Bautista Vecchi-Ramello and Kenny Hassler, upping the former's team-leading point total to nine

- Sebastia Cerda-Tous recorded a game-high three shots with one aimed toward the twine as Tino Lira also got multiple looks including an on-goal delivery

- Zak Stiffler pocketed three saves in his third shutout of the year – the 14th of his career – while Jacopo Suagher knocked away a shot on goal to log a team save

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Half

- Wingate came out swinging as Yannick Hilpert fired the first shot that deflected away, then Petar Roganovic sent in a redirected corner kick that Stiffler pushed away

- On the Bulldogs' fourth corner in the 10th minute, Pedro Santos nearly put one through but Saugher got in the way

- A 25th-minute shot on goal from Noah Sapsford served as Catawba's first, shortly before Albayeros substituted in

- Moments later, Wingate attempted to head away a free kick but Vecchi-Ramello got the second-chance volley to Albayeros in the center of the penalty box, setting up the Salvadoran to curl in a strike just 64 seconds after entering the match

- In the 33rd minute, a hard Bulldog foul produced a yellow card as well as a promising free kick opportunity. Hassler lined up the kick and blasted it to the doorstep, finding Alban who drilled a header into the left side of the net

- Less than six minutes away from halftime, the 'Dogs earned a penalty kick and selected scoring leader Pablo Pozos to take the shot. Stiffler read Pozos' mind, stopping the attempt with a dive to his right-hand side

Second Half

- Outside of fouls and a Wingate offside infraction, the second period started quietly before Lira got off a blocked shot which produced a Catawba corner

- 16 minutes passed before another scoring chance was presented as Cerda-Tous and Wingate's Lucas Jansen launched wide darts around the 71st-minute mark

- Zach Panagiotou had a 79th-minute opportunity get dashed as Catawba charged the other way, producing a Lira shot on goal 31 seconds later

- The final 10 minutes were predominantly controlled by the blue and white who kept pounding on the door, almost finding another opening when Cerda-Tous sent a slow-paced shot into an empty net, but Roganovic kicked it away with just inches to spare

- The 'Dogs stuffed Catawba's two late corners to keep the deficit from growing, but the damage was done as the home team celebrated its win to reach .500 both overall and in the South Atlantic Conference

UP NEXT

Catawba continues its run of home matches on Saturday, Oct. 19 with an in-league tilt on Alumni Weekend against Emory & Henry at 3:30 p.m.