Cerda-Tous' brace not enough as Men's Soccer falls at home to Anderson

Salisbury, N.C. – The Catawba Men's Soccer team fell in a tough, hard fought affair at Frock Field on Senior Night, falling 4-2 to the visiting Anderson Trojans after allowing three goals in the second half to fall to 8-4-2 on the season and 4-3-2 in South Atlantic Conference play.

TEAM STATS

- Both Catawba and Anderson had eight shots, with six of Anderson's attempts being on target to four on the Catawba side

- Catawba had eight opportunities off of corners to just two for Anderson, though neither side was able to capitalize

- Catawba's Zak Stiffler and Anderson keeper Franco Antonio Funes each posted two saves

- There were fouls aplenty, with Anderson committing 17 of them and Catawba 15; seven yellow cards were shown, with four going to Catawba

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Sebastia Cerda-Tous had a huge night for Catawba, scoring a first-half brace on a team-leading three shots to bring his season total to five. Salano Birch was second on the team with a pair of shots

- Rodrigo Albayeros and Kheynne Ona-Vera each notched an assist

- Stiffler, Steven Lozano, Gage Bernard, and Birch all saw yellow cards in the match

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF

- Catawba would be the first to apply pressure just before the 15 minute mark, as Sioni Benham saw a blocked shot for a corner; it would be just after the 15-minute mark that Cerda-Tous would strike for the first time, fed by Albayeros and slotting home to give Catawba the lead

- But the lead would last just around 12 minutes, with chaos in the Catawba backline allowing Anderson forward Santiago Arce to pounce on a loose ball and beat Stiffler to level the game

- Catawba pushed back, getting forward and applying pressure as Birch and Noah Sapsford had chances offensively. Eventually it would be Cerda-Touswho broke through again at the 39:15 mark, set up by Ona-Vera to give Catawba a 2-1 halftime lead

SECOND HALF

- The Trojans found themselves on the front foot, and as they continued to apply pressure they got their break. Julian Caro Sepulveda won possession in the Catawba half and uncorked a laser from distance that found the top right corner for Anderson's first lead on 65:07 played

- Cerda-Tous and Albayeros would each have attempts for Catawba, but the home side would be unable to find the back of the net during the remainder of the game

- Stiffler did his best to keep Catawba in it, denying Anderson's Juan Jose Alvarez twice within a minute

- But he was powerless against Caro Sepulveda's absolute thunderbolt in the 84th minute, as the Anderson winger cut inside and found the top right corner again with a wicked curling effort from 25 yards out to make it 4-2

UP NEXT

- Catawba is back in action on Saturday, Oct. 28 as they hit the road and continue conference play against the Emory & Henry Wasps at 5 p.m.