Morrow, Ga. —- The Catawba College men's soccer earned its first win of the 2023 campaign at the Laker Classic Saturday evening, defeating Emmanuel 1-0.

TEAM STATS

- Catawba out-shot Emmanuel 20-7

- The Catawba Indians held the advantage in shots on goal 8-2

- Catawba had an edge in corner kicks 4-3

- The Catawba Indians received six of eight yellow cards in the match

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Salano Birch scored the winner in the 14th minute

- The junior midfielder led the team with three shots on goal

- Juan Pablo Nicoletti recorded the assist

- Zak Stiffler made two saves to earn the shutout

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF

- Birch was able to get a shot on goal just after the opening minute, but Emmanuel made the save

- Callum Hudson's shot on goal was saved in the eighth minute

- Birch broke through in the 14th minute for Catawba's first goal of the season

- Lucas Pollacchi's attempt to tie was saved by Stiffler six minutes later

- Joe Allerton put a shot on target in the 27th minute was saved

SECOND HALF

- Pollacchi put a second shot on goal in the 61st minute, but Stiffler again made the save

- Catawba made the Emmanuel keeper make four saves in the second half, but was unable to find the back of the net for the second time

HEAR FROM COACH HASSLER

"[We're] excited by the result.  Both games this weekend were against top opponents who truly tested us . We had some excellent moments that really showed our quality.  We also had moments that showed areas of our game that still need significant improvement. We are happy now to have a nice stretch of time for training before we head into conference play."

GAME NOTES

- 11th career goal for Birch

- Recorded five goals and two game-winners in each of his first two seasons at Catawba

- Sixth career shutout for Stiffler

- First-ever meeting between the two programs

UP NEXT

- Catawba returns home to Frock Field next Saturday, when it hosts Newberry in their South Atlantic Conference opener

- Game time is set for 1 p.m.