JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - The Carson-Newman Men's Soccer Team
(5-3-1, 3-1-0 SAC) got back on the winning track Saturday evening
as it defeated South Atlantic Conference rival Lenoir-Rhyne
University (5-4-1, 1-1-0 SAC) by a 2-1 margin at McCown Field.
"It's important because it's a conference match," said Head Coach
Allen Vital. "We always have to fight hard to win. Our guys played
with a lot of effort, they deserved to win tonight and I'll give
them credit for that."
After a scoreless 45 minutes, Carson-Newman got on the board just
1:12 into the second half when senior Omar Cooke (Roanoke, Va.)
headed in a throw-in by Ben Backstrom (Knoxville, Tenn.) for his
team-leading sixth goal of the year.
L-R scored the equalizing goal five minutes later when Oriol Cortes
(Barcelona, SPAIN) headed a pass from John Ferguson (Fife,
SCOTLAND) into the back of the net.
"Lenoir-Rhyne was no pushover tonight," added Vital. "They play a
very direct style of soccer with a lot of long passes and defensive
pressure. Even when they were down they played hard to stay in the
game."
Robert Hill (Middlesbrough, ENGLAND) scored the match-winner off a
pass from Daniel Zitt (Morristown, Tenn.) at the 67:36 mark.
C-N's Jordan Moore (Hendersonville, Tenn.) picked up the win in
goal making two saves while Tom Heath (Solihull, ENGLAND) tallied
three saves for L-R despite the loss.
Carson-Newman will visit Concord on Tuesday evening for a 4:00 p.m.
match with the Mountain Lions.