The North Greenville Trailblazers opened the 2026 season with a tightly contested contest against Catawba, falling 2-1 on Saturday evening in Salisbury, North Carolina. After the two teams played a scoreless opening half, all three goals came during the final 36 minutes of the match. The loss moved North Greenville to 0-1 on the season, while Catawba improved to 1-0-1.
North Greenville put together several opportunities during the opening 45 minutes, recording four shots and two corner kicks. The Trailblazers put two of those attempts on goal, but neither side was able to break through before halftime. Catawba finished the first half with five shots as the teams entered the break with a scoreless tie.
Catawba broke the tie in the 55th minute when Lukas Garcia-Huidobro found the back of the net to give the CAT a 1-0 lead. The Indians added to the lead in the 80th minute on a goal from Alex Payton, putting North Greenville in a 2-0 deficit with just over 10 minutes remaining.
The Trailblazers responded just 95 seconds later. Warren Traina converted a penalty kick at the 80:55 mark to cut the deficit to 2-1 and score North Greenville's first goal of the 2026 season. NGU was unable to find the equalizer over the final nine minutes as Catawba held on for the one-goal victory.
North Greenville finished the match with six shots, putting three on goal, while Catawba recorded 14 shots with four on target. Warren Traina scored on his only attempt, while Jesse Zborovsky and Sacha Cormier each put up a shot on goal. Ethan Henderson, Conor Campbell and Zac Zborovsky also recorded shots for the Trailblazers. Cohen Brinkley played all 90 minutes in goal for NGU and finished with two saves.
NGU will return to action on Wednesday, September 2nd against the Lions of Mars Hill University at Pepsi Stadium.
