Men's Soccer drops regular season finale vs. Lenoir-Rhyne

Salisbury, N.C. – The Catawba College men's soccer team dropped their regular season finale at home against the visiting Lenoir-Rhyne Bears on Wednesday night in a hard fought 1-0 loss, finishing the regular season with an record of 9-5-2 and a 5-4-2 mark in South Atlantic Conference Play. 

TEAM STATS

- Catawba outshot Lenoir-Rhyne 17-10, with eight Catawba attempts on target against just three for Lenoir-Rhyne

- Catawba also had more opportunities from corner kicks, with five against Lenoir-Rhyne's two

- Fouls were widespread; the Bears committed 18 and were shown four yellow cards, while Catawba was guilty of 12 fouls and had two players shown cautions

- Lenoir-Rhyne goalkeeper Juan Basabe produced eight saves in the shutout win, as Catawba keeper Zak Stiffler logged a pair of stops

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Sebastia Cerda-Tous led the effort offensively with five shots, two of which were on target. Joe Bennett had four attempts, also placing two on goal, while Juan Pablo Nicoletti logged three shots

- Nicoletti and August Joensson both saw yellow cards

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF

- Catawba came out on the front foot and threatened early, with Nicoletti and Cerda-Tous being denied by Basabe in the first four minutes of play. Stiffler would make his first save of the night in the sixth minute, denying Harri Rowe

- The lone goal of the game would come in the 15th minute, with Gage Bernard being whistled for a foul in the Catawba box and Bears forward Adrian Martina burying the resulting penalty for a 1-0 lead

- Bennett and Joensson each had attempts saved by Basabe during the rest of the first half, with Joensson's header off of a corner coming the closest to beating the Lenoir-Rhyne keeper

SECOND HALF

- Catawba pushed hard for an equalizer, with Steven Lozano and Bennett forcing a pair of saves from Basabe in the first six minutes of the half

- Lenoir-Rhyne would begin to drop in an attempt to preserve the lead, and while Catawba surged forward, they couldn't find the finish

- Nicoletti, Cerda-Tous, and Salano Birch all had chances, but none troubled Basabe until another good Joensson chance following a Catawba corner, as the center back nearly scored a headed opportunity

- Stiffler kept Catawba in it with a save on Martina, just after Jaheim Smith had flashed a shot wideCatawba pushed hard, they would be unable to find the equalizer on the night

UP NEXT

- Catawba opens up its postseason action this season on Sunday in a rematch with Lenoir-Rhyne on the road at 6 p.m.