JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (12-4, 8-3 SAC) plays host in its opening round SAC tournament contest against Mars Hill (6-9, 6-5 SAC). The Eagles are the third seed while the Lions are the sixth.
"Mars Hill is a very tough team this year," Carson-Newman head soccer coach Richard Moodie said. "They've done well."
Carson-Newman is coming off a 3-2 overtime win at Anderson. Ross Frame (Welshpool, Powys, United Kingdom) scored two goals in regular play including the equalizer in the 89th minute that sent the game into overtime.
In the final minute of the first overtime, senior captain Matheus Bachi (Caxias do Sul, Brazil) scored the golden goal off a deflected shot taken by Sindre Welo (Trondheim, Norway).
Senior captain Rumwald Le Guevel (Vannes, France) had four saves on the match. He is second in the SAC with 73 saves and third with a save percentage of .793.
"The boys are on a seven game winning streak," Moodie said. "We hope to continue on it, and continue to stay ranked in the region. We may be able to start looking at a national ranking. There are teams on there with our same record, some worse, so that's a possibility."
On Sept. 28, the Mountain Lions fell to Anderson 1-0.
Last Saturday, Mars Hill toppled Catawba 2-0 with two unassisted second half goals from Reiss Garwood and Thor-Joakim Stenberg.
The Eagles lost to Catawba 2-0 on Sept. 21.
"The game will be exciting," Moodie said. "We got the better of them this year at their place."
In regular season, C-N defeated Mars Hill 2-1. The Lions scored first in the 30th minute off a penalty kick.
Three minutes before halftime, Duncan Foster () crossed a ball in that Kristan Speake (Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, United Kingdom) finished to tie it up.
In the final minute of regular play, Nico Noll (Esens, Niedersachsen, Germany) scored the game winning goal. Welo and Frame both got credit for the assist.
Frame leads the conference in points with 39, goals with 15 and assists with 9.
"We have to focus on what we're meant to do," Moodie said. "Our goal was to make it to the finals of the conference tournament. If we want to do that, we have to win the games."
The match can be followed live at http://livestats.prestosports.com/marshill/.