SALISBURY, N.C. --- Catawba College scored twice in the final 10 minutes of the first half and went on to a 2-0 victory over Tusculum University in South Atlantic Conference men's soccer Saturday night at Frock Field.
Joseph Allerton scored on a penalty kick in the 37th minute and Kenny Hassler followed less than a minute before halftime for the Indians (4-1-1, 2-0-1 SAC), who peppered 25 shots at the Tusculum goal in the match.
The 23rd-ranked Pioneers (5-2-1, 1-2-1 SAC) had five shots on goal in the contest, but Indians keeper Zak Stiffler stopped them all to earn the shutout.
Tusculum keeper Nicolas Leite made three saves during an early offensive surge by Catawba, and added another save in the 16th minute on Juan Pablo Nicoletti. The Pioneers did not have a shot attempt until the 18th minute, and put its first shot on goal in the 30th minute when Ndubueze Henry was stopped by Stiffler.
Catawba had a chance to go up 1-0 in the 32nd minute when the Indians were awarded a penalty, but the shot from Sebastian Cerda-Tous was stopped by Leite with a dive to his right.
Five minutes later, the Indians were given another penalty, and this time Allerton went to the left of Leite for the goal and a 1-0 lead at 36:07.
After Stiffler made another save on Henry in the 44th minute, Hassler took a pass from Oscar Taylor and scored at 44:13 to push the Catawba lead to 2-0 at halftime.
Tusculum's best scoring chance came in the 52nd minute, when the ball came to J-P Vital in the box but his blast was turned away by a lunging Stiffler, followed moments later by another save on Henry.
The Pioneers would have just one shot in the final eight minutes, when Stiffler made a save on an attempt by Isak Tallwin off a Tusculum corner kick.
Leite had a season-high nine saves for Tusculum, which had an 8-4 edge in corner kicks over Catawba. The Pioneers were called for 11 fouls to 10 by the Indians, and Tusculum also received five cautions while Catawba was booked three times in the match.
The Pioneers are home to face Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday, Sept. 27 at 7:30 p.m. at Pioneer Field. The Railsplitters are 4-1-2 overall but 0-1-1 in the SAC following a 3-3 draw against Newberry on Saturday.
