SALISBURY, N.C. – Bautista Vecchi-Ramello's 86th-minute equalizer forced a 1-1 draw in the Catawba College men's soccer team's South Atlantic Conference opener against Carson-Newman on Saturday night at Frock Field.
TEAM STATS
- Catawba (1-0-3, 0-0-1 SAC) led the shot count 16-7, launching 13 in the first 45 minutes. Five shots were on target as Carson-Newman (0-2-2, 0-0-1 SAC) managed four on-goal darts
- The hosts remained unbeaten in the corner kicks realm this season but were kept to its lowest total of the year, outnumbering the Eagles 5-4
- Carson-Newman was hit with one fewer foul, being whistled 12 times compared to Catawba's 13
- The Eagles were carded five times while Catawba saw three yellows
- Time of possession in the match was split 50-50
INDIVIDUAL STATS
- Vecchi-Ramello notched his second goal of the season, the eighth of his college career
- Sebastia Cerda-Tous paced the Catawba Indians with five total shots, but Vecchi-Ramello was the lone player with two on-target attempts
- Tino Lira got his first career start as Richard Leon made his first appearance of the season
- Jaime Serrano, Steven Lozano, and Tomas Noya played full games for Catawba
- Zak Stiffler saved each of the three shots he faced from live action, allowing the Eagles' lone goal off a penalty kick
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
- Cerda-Tous accounted for four of the first five shots of the match, adding the initial shot on goal in the 12th minute
- Catawba held an 8-0 lead in shots before Antoine Torrent delivered an 18th-minute on-goal boot
- The blue and white came up empty on three corner kicks in a two-minute span
- Kheynne Ona-Vera, who collected his first career strike on Wednesday, put a shot on frame as a result of an Eagle yellow
- Stiffler turned away C-N shots in the 33rd and 40th minutes to keep proceedings scoreless
Second Half
- Two Catawba fouls and dueling offside calls were the only notes from the first 21 minutes after halftime as a combined seven players came off the bench in the 67th minute, looking to provide a spark
- The Eagles stuffed a 72nd-minute corner kick for Catawba, driving down the field to draw a foul in the box. Mitchell Honcoop took the PK, scoring on a right-footer to the right side
- In the 85th minute, a deep pass from Serrano in the backfield found Vecchi-Ramello at the top of the box. The Argentinian weaved through two defenders and fired at Eagle goalie Paul Moser, following the deflection to tap the ball into the net
- The Catawba defense refused to bend after leveling the score, blocking two C-N shots to keep the visitors at bay for a draw in the SAC opener
UP NEXT
Catawba travels to Florence, S.C. on Wednesday, Sep. 18 for a non-conference matchup with Francis Marion at 7 p.m.
