WASHINGTON, D.C.  — The Catholic men's soccer team looked to get back in the win column on Wednesday afternoon after three straight draws in a home matchup against North Carolina Wesleyan. The Cardinals blitzed the Battling Bishops in the opening stages of the game, scoring two goals in the span of three minutes to spur them onto a 4-0 victory.

The Cardinals gained all the momentum in the early stages of the match by scoring 13 minutes into the action to take a 1-0 advantage over the Battling Bishops. Ben Zimmer received a pass from Charlie Paparella on the right side of the 18 and played in a cross on the ground to Holden Woodings in the middle of the box. Woodings took advantage of the opportunity, steering a shot into the center of the goal to put Catholic on top.

The lead was doubled just three minutes later by Catholic when Carson Shamoo took possession a couple yards outside of the penalty area on a pass from Corey Magro. Shamoo dribbled around a NC Wesleyan defender and placed his shot on a bounce in the low left corner of the goal to extend the Cardinals lead to two.

Trevor Grice made his first career start in goal for the Cardinals and kept the clean sheet intact in the first half by making three saves to help the team take a 2-0 lead into the halftime break.

Catholic put the game out of reach with 20 minutes left in the match after Shamoo was fouled on a clear chance on goal to set up a penalty kick. Woodings was selected to take the and tallied his second goal of the match by placing his kick in the bottom right corner to make it 3-0.

Andreas Shaboo, assisted by Magro, added one more goal for the Cardinals, scoring the first of his career, with less than seven minutes left in the upper left corner to put the final dagger in the Battling Bishops. Catholic closed out a 4-0 win to improve to 4-0-3 on the season and remain unbeaten. 

Woodings now leads the team with four goals on the season and it was his fourth multi-goal game in his career. He now has 19 career goals, putting him in ninth place in DIII program history in career goals. Shamoo now has three goals on the season with his goal in the first half, good for second on the squad. 

Grice totaled 7 saves on the evenings to earn his first shutout of the season and career.

Up next, the Cardinals host Lycoming in their first conference matchup on Saturday, September 27th at 3:30 p.m at Carlini Stadium.