Men’s soccer head coach George Lidster isn’t shying away from his desire to have a successful final season and Wednesday his team was in step with his wishes, shutting out District-rival Catholic 3-0 in GW’s final preseason exhibition game.

Perhaps foreshadowing the weather challenges GW will face in the coming days, the afternoon’s match against Catholic was made more difficult by a slick turf surface from the day’s rain. At the outset of the match, both teams struggled to complete passes, but Colonials senior Yoni Berhanu drilled a goal into Catholic’s net in the 34th minute of play, angling a 25-yard shot over the right of the leaping Cardinals goaltender. Sophomore Bailey Hinners set up the play, centering a pass to Berhanu that allowed the senior to score.

Berhanu’s goal opened the floodgates for the Colonials, and freshman Farhan Kahn put GW up by two in the 74th minute of play. Sophomore teammate Abdul Shaban connected with Kahn down the left sideline, and the rookie turned away from a Catholic defender in the box, zipping an eight-yard shot into the net.

Another of GW’s five rookies completed the Colonials tally, with Hinners again setting up the goal when he headed the ball to junior Zach Abaie. Abaie then sent a pass back to freshman Joe Holleran, who drilled his shot into the upper left corner of the net.

The Colonials rotated three goaltenders in net, with juniors Brendan Lafferty and Alejandro Almovodar and freshman Luke Farrell all contributing to the shutout. Catholic’s best scoring chance came when Lafferty was in net, when a shot at the 20th minute hit the crossbar on the GW net.

With their exhibition schedule complete, the Colonials now set their sights on the regular season. They open the season Sept. 1 at the D.C. College Cup, squaring off against American at 5 p.m. in Fairfax, Va., on the campus of George Mason University.

The Colonials enter the season 2-1 in preseason play, after defeating James Madison 3-0 in their opening game but falling 1-0 in a tight contest to Old Dominion.