BOONE, N.C. – The Carson-Newman men's soccer team (6-1-1) endured a two-and-a-half hour lightning delay in a 2-0 win over the Lees-McRae Bobcats (3-5) to extend its winning streak to four games Wednesday afternoon at Ted Mackorell Soccer Complex on the campus of Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C.
Senior goalkeeper Kavi Luchowa (London, England) made five saves and recorded his sixth-career clean sheet to move up to fifth in the Carson-Newman record books.
The Eagles were leading 1-0 in the 62nd-minute when the first bolt of lightning struck and began the marathon delay.
"We played well. It was nice to get a clean sheet. James Ward and the rest of the back-four played spectacular," coach Richard Moodie said. "Stuart Oliver was fantastic in the middle of the park. It was nice to see Lucas Siqueira and Tom Read pop up on the scoresheet. Read's goal right after the break was huge for us to see this contest out."
Senior Lucas Siqueira (Sao Paulo, Brazil) scored the C-N goal in the contest's 16th-minute. Siqueira picked up a Lees-McRae's defender's failed clearance out of the defensive-third and blasted his third goal of the year past goalkeeper Tyler Pavlet. The goal was the eventual game-winner, which is the third of the Brazilian's career.
The Eagles and Bobcats played the last 29 minutes of the first half and first 17 minutes of the second half before the lightning delay struck.
Eight minutes after the delay, Carson-Newman struck again. Junior Tom Read (London, England) took the ball down the left side of the pitch and shot the ball across the face of the goal to his net his first-career goal in the Orange and Blue.
After Read's goal, the Bobcats outshot the Eagles six to two, but Luchowa and the back-four withstood the attack to ensure the clean sheet.
Carson-Newman outshot Lees-McRae 13 to 12 and C-N has now outshot six of its nine opponents and are 5-1 in contests where it tallies more attempts on goal. Read and junior Marius Staalby (Trondheim, Norway) led the team with three shots, while reigning TSWA Player of the Week Jules Gabbiadini (York, England) recorded two.
Carson-Newman has beaten the Bobcats in the last three contests by a combined total of 6-1 and the series record now sits at 4-6 in favor of Lees-McRae.
The Eagles stay on the road and travel to face the South Atlantic Conference foe Anderson (S.C.) Trojans on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. at Trojan Stadium in Anderson.
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