ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. — The Catholic University men's soccer team secured a massive road victory on Tuesday night against Elizabethtown.
The Cardinals were forced to come from behind after Elizabethtown earned a penalty kick in the 28th minute. Goalkeeper Owen Allegro was cautioned for a foul the penalty area and, after a lengthy delay, Pedro Guizardi made no mistake with the spot kick, pushing the home side into the lead.
Travis Beauchamp 's side responded quickly, equalizing with its next shot just eight minutes later. After registering a goal and an assist last time out, Domenico Caltabiano provided a stunning leveler for the Cardinals.
He picked up the ball 35 yards from goal and after taking two touches unleashed a howitzer of a strike from more than 25 yards. Despite goalkeeper Kelvin Del Cid getting two hands on it, he was unable to deal with the power of the strike as the ball bounced across the line before a Blue Jay could race back to clear it away.
The teams went into the break even but it was Catholic who began the second half the brighter.
Gordie Bernlohr and Liam Giblin both forced saves out of the Elizabethtown goalkeeper in the opening 10 minutes of the second stanza before Catholic edged ahead.
It was a somewhat unlikely goalscorer who came up with the goods in the 59th minute. Wingback Andrew Lowman was the beneficiary of clever play from Caltabiano and Ben Zimmer, taking his chance to fire his team ahead.
Zimmer made a brilliant run down the right flank, beating multiple defenders before firing a low ball into the penalty area. Caltabiano had a chance to take on a strike himself but instead decided to fake a shot, turn inside and provided the ever-so-slightest of touches to set up Lowman, who produced a finish of the highest order to send the entire Cardinal team into celebration at the corner flag.
Allegro made two comfortable saves in the final 10 minutes to secure the victory for the Cardinals. For the second game in a row, Caltabiano has scored and assisted. He has now done this an impressive six times in his Catholic career.
The victory keeps Catholic in second place in the Landmark Conference (4-0-1) and sets up a colossal conference matchup this upcoming Saturday.
The Cardinals will welcome Landmark newcomers Lycoming to Carlini Field on Senior Day and Cardinal Weekend for a battle between the top two teams in the conference. Lycoming is a perfect 5-0-0 in Landmark Conference play and sits at 8-3-3 overall. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. in a match that will be vital to determining seeding for the upcoming conference tournament.
