SALISBURY, NC – The Catawba College men's soccer team rattled off 14 shots in Wednesday evening's SAC matchup with Coker University, but Catawba was held scoreless in a 1-0 defeat.
The Catawba Indians had plenty of chances find the back of the night in Wednesday's conference showdown, but the home team was unable to convert. Nico Morillo sent a shot on goal in the first ten minutes to get things started, but Coker's goalkeeper made the save.
Simone Trentin and Sebastia Cerda-Tous also ripped shots in the first half, but neither were on target.
The two teams went to the halftime break in a scoreless tie.
Catawba kept the pedal to the metal at the start of the second half as they ripped three shots within the first five minutes of the second stanza. Joe Bennett and Salano Birch sent the early shots, and Birch put one of his two attempts on goal.
Five minutes later, in the 55th minute, Birch had another scoring opportunity in Coker's defensive zone, but his shot missed the mark.
In the 59th minute, Coker had a free kick from about ten yards outside Catawba's 18-yard box, and it trickled through multiple bodies and made it into the back of the net.
The home team outshot the Cobras 6-2 in the final 30 minutes, but they were unable to find paydirt. Five different players got shots off down the stretch including near misses by Joe Bennett, Simone Trentin, Bautista Vechhi-Ramello, and Andrew Twamley.
Catawba men's soccer will face 14th-ranked Mars Hill on Saturday (weather permitting).
