HARTSVILLE, S.C. – A penalty kick in the 75th-minute from senior defender Sindre Welo (Trondheim, Norway) secured the 21st-ranked Carson-Newman men's soccer team (14-2-1) a share of its ninth South Atlantic Conference regular season title and the one-seed in the SAC Tournament as the Eagles defeated the Coker Cobras (3-10-1, 3-8 SAC) Saturday afternoon at the Coker Soccer Complex.
The conference title is the first for the Eagles since 2010 and the first for coach Richard Moodie; Moodie clinched the women's SAC regular season title outright with the women's soccer team.
Welo's goal was his 27th-career goal and his third penalty kick, which ties him for the school record for penalty kicks made.
Carson-Newman has now won eight-straight games and finished the month of October 8-1.
"We turned in another solid performance. We controlled the game for all 90 minutes. We were defensively sound and the midfield controlled the game. We were the dominant team," Moodie said. "Things started going for us; we outshot them 17-3. Again, we had to try to break down a team that sat behind of the ball. I'm proud of the team and it's a fantastic achievement to be 2015 SAC regular season champions."
Carson-Newman outshot Coker 7-2 in the first half, but neither team could put a shot in the net in the stanza.
The Eagles tallied six shots before Welo's goal, which two required saves by Coker goalkeeper Michael Ritterbeck.
A Coker foul set up Welo's game-winning PK in the 75th-minute and the Norwegian chipped the keeper down the middle for the goal. After the C-N goal, no team recorded a shot and the Eagles held on for the 1-0 win.
Carson-Newman outshot Coker 14-3 in the contest. The Cobras' three shots are a season-low for a C-N opponent and the least the Eagles have allowed since Brevard registered four shots last season.
Junior Tom Read (London, England) tallied five shots on the day. Welo and senior Rurik Pereira (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) each recorded two shots. Connor Norton-Baker, Mads Aagurd and Ian Fellenz had Coker's three shots.
Senior Kavi Luchowa (London, England) did not face a shot in goal during his 90 minutes of play and picked up his fifth clean sheet of the season.
One-seed Carson-Newman will host the eight-seed, Brevard, in the SAC Tournament quarterfinals on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. at McCown Field.
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