Three First-Half Goals Lead Cardinals Past Eagles
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Juniata men's soccer team fell to three first-half goals from Catholic in a 3-0 defeat on Saturday afternoon.
Juniata fired the first shot of the match when Victor Vandenbroek fired a long-range shot from 30 yards away at the Catholic keeper in the eighth minute.
Ian Edwards nearly capitalized on a corner kick with a far-post header that missed wide in the 12th minute.
The Cardinals were persistent in the next fifteen minutes, finding the net for all three of their goals on six total shots.
The first came in the 15th minute as a cross from the right side hit an unmarked Cardinal player positioned near the far post, six yards from the goal, who lobbed the ball to the right corner.
The second goal followed five minutes later as a cross from thirty yards out found a Catholic player who put a high-velocity header into the bottom left corner.
The third goal came in the 24th minute as a loose ball on the edge of the 18-yard box was fired into the top right corner.
Catholic shot four more times in the final twenty minutes of the half, with Axel Grater tasked with making saves on two of the shots.
The Cardinal pressure continued into the opening phases of the second half, with the Cardinals missing wide on four shots in the first five minutes. In a five-minute spell from the 55th minute to the 60th minute, Catholic hit the left post, put a shot at keeper Grater, and missed two more shots over the top and wide right in the same attack.
In the final thirty minutes of the half, Catholic would continue to fire shots at the Eagles' net, with Grater making four more saves to end the day with seven saves and a .700 save percentage. Juniata registered zero shots in the half.
The men's soccer team gets a mid-week break ahead of hosting Landmark Conference opponents Goucher on Saturday, October 15, as it begins a run of three home matches over eight days. Juniata is 4-7-3 against the Gophers, with victory last coming in a 1-0 overtime win in 2019.