Men's Soccer opens SAC play with draw vs. Newberry

Salisbury, N.C. – The Catawba College men's soccer team was forced to settle for a point in a hard-fought draw at Frock Field with the Newberry Wolves on Saturday afternoon, as a game that featured two very contrasting halves ended 3-3.

TEAM STATS

- Catawba out-shot Newberry 19 to 16

- Both teams put seven shots on target, and both keepers had four saves

- Catawba led in corner kicks, with eight compared to Newberry's two

- Both teams committed 14 fouls, and had four players apiece receive yellow card

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Sebastia Cerda-Tous, Vito Venaria, and Nate Burns each scored a goal

- Juan Pablo Nicoletti, Kheynne Ona-Vera, and Cerda-Tous each recorded an assist

- Venaria and Cerda-Tous each had three shots on goal, combining for six of Catawba's seven efforts on target

- Zak Stiller recorded four saves on seven shots on goal

- Cerda-Tous, Nicoletti, Salano Birch, and Joao Guedes saw yellow in the match

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF

- After a back and forth opening half-hour, Catawba was presented the chance for a breakthrough after a Newberry foul while defending a cross in the box. Cerda-Tous stepped up for the penalty and smashed an effort past Wolves keeper Jacob Cotton to break the deadlock in the 33rd minute

- Catawba wasted no time adding onto their lead, as just :32 seconds later Veneria finished off a brilliant team move facilitated by Nicoletti and scorer-turned-provider, Cerda-Tous

- Momentum would continue to be all in the favor of the home side, with Nate Burns rising to nod home an excellently placed free kick from Kheynne Ona-Vera in the 40th minute as Catawba scored their third goal in seven minutes, taking a comfortable lead into the break

SECOND HALF

- Xavi Jul gave Newberry life in the 60th minute, able to get to a rebound in the box first and poke home after his first effort had been blocked by a Catawba defender

- Newberry continued to push, and were rewarded just three minutes after their first goal when speedy wing-back Seraphin Guetan picked up the ball just inside his own half and slalomed passed several Catawba defenders before smashing home a low effort off the far post to cut the lead to 3-2

- Similar to Catawba, Newberry would prove to do all of their damage in a short time span, with Jose Puente's cross finding the lethal boot of Uriel Zarracan in the box with 65 minutes played for the Wolves' third goal in five minutes, completing the comeback at 3-3

- Both teams would push for a decisive goal in the final 25 minutes, and despite Catawba forcing Cotton into making three more saves they were unable to break the deadlock and the points would be shared

UP NEXT

- Catawba is back in action at home in Salisbury on Tuesday, September 12th as they welcome Mount Olive to Frock Field for a 7:00 EST showdown