MEN'S SOCCER MOVES ON TO SAC SEMIFINAL WITH 3-2 WIN OVER CATAWBA
November 9, 2024

MEN'S SOCCER MOVES ON TO SAC SEMIFINAL WITH 3-2 WIN OVER CATAWBA

Hartsville, SC – The Cobras survived a heart-attack in the dying embers of this one, claiming a 3-2 victory at the Coker Athletic Turf to move on in the South Atlantic Conference tournament.

The first half was dominated by chances created by Coker. Five minutes in, they had a great chance in a one-on-one with the Catawba keeper, but it was handled well off a good save and the slate was kept at 0-0. Multiple chances just like that one happened after that, but they all ended in a save, a shot off-target, or a misplaced through ball.

Finally, in the 22nd minute, the Cobras logged themselves in the scoring column. Vitalis Takawira Jr. played the ball into Oskar Kaufmann who laid it off right to Niko Sotra for a great team goal. This was just the second goal of Sotra's career, with the senior's first coming just this past Wednesday against Wingate.

The half ended with that same 1-0 scoreline, with a continued back-and-forth contest between both teams that allowed for no further separation. This is exactly how the second half began, with the first ten minutes having chances missed by both sides.

After a lull, the Cobras doubled their total in the 57th minute with a Takawira Jr. goal that was assisted by Youri Keijser. After twenty minutes worth of a lull, things got much more interesting. Within two minutes of each other (79th and 81st minutes), Catawba scored a pair of great goals to even this one up at 2-2.

Then, just twenty seconds after it was evened up, Jorhan Chopin retook the lead off a great ball played in by Kaufmann. That 81st-minute goal ended up being the game-winner, and the Cobras lived to see another day.

With this win, the Cobras move on to play a SAC Semifinal match-up on Friday at the Matthews Sports Complex in Matthews, NC. That game will be at 2 PM ET and will feature the winner of the 3-6 seed game that takes place tomorrow (Sunday) against Anderson and Lenoir-Rhyne.

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