PREVIEW: Men’s Soccer battles Virginia State on Senior Night

SALISBURY, N.C. – The Catawba College men's soccer team steps away from its South Atlantic Conference slate for a home match against Virginia State on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Coming In Hot

- Catawba starts the week on a 3-0-1 run with a marquee victory over national vote-receiving Wingate last week

- After a rocky start to the year, the squad has improved its records to above .500 at 4-3-5 overall and 3-2-3 in league play

- The Catawba Indians have not conceded a goal since Oct. 2 when they fell to No. 18 Coker, 3-1

- In SAC standings, Catawba has leapt from eighth at the beginning last week to its current fourth-place position

Stat Leaders

- Thanks to a three-point week, Bautista Vecchi-Ramello continues to pace Catawba in goals (5) and points (11)

- Sebastia Cerda-Tous holds the team's highest shots total of 33, putting 15 on target, while Vecchi-Ramello follows with 30 and 12

- Noah Sapsford and Kenny Hassler share the lead in helpers, contributing two assists apiece among nine players with dimes

- Between the posts, Zak Stiffler has blanked opposing offenses for the last three matches to up his season win and clean sheet values to four. The graduate student has 

All-Time Series

- Catawba and Virginia State have never previously met

- VSU will be Catawba's second current CIAA opponent, the other being Shaw who was originally scheduled to come to Frock Field two weeks ago

Scouting the Trojans

- The Trojans have a 1-8-1 overall record this fall

- The side's lone victory occurred further southeast on Highway 52 at Division III institution Pfeiffer, prevailing in 2-1 fashion

- Catawba shares a common opponent with VSU in Emory & Henry; the blue and white tallied a 2-0 victory last Saturday, while the Trojans logged a scoreless draw on Sep. 18

- Sebastine Daniel is the only Trojan with multiple goals having scored twice, also contributing an assist for a team-high five points

- In goal, Xavier Brisbon and Sean Roach have split duties evenly at five matches apiece while Brisbon has slightly better numbers of a 3.20 goals against average and a .673 save percentage

Follow Along

The match will be broadcast live on FloSports ($) accompanied by real-time stats on CatawbaAthletics.com.