JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn - In the first of three articles previewing the Carson-Newman 2016 men's soccer team, the spotlight is on the goalkeepers and the defenders. For this topic, we talked to assistant coach and former C-N goalie Kavi Luchowa.

While this crew did lose several players to graduation, the returners include a first team all-conference fullback and four talented players who will fight to fill the role of netminder.

With Luchowa's career having come to an end at the completion of the 2015 season, Coach Richard Moodie has four players to choose from to fill the open spot. Senior Aaron Zavalokin(Sydney Australia), junior Luke Greer(Northampton, England) , sophomore Casper Nyberg(Kalmar, Sweden) and freshman Joe Boyd(Nottingham, England) will all be vying for time in net. Nyberg and Greer each appeared in a game last season and they will battle with the transfer Zavalokin and the rookie Boyd for the starting spot.

"It's really early," said Luchowa, "but they've all been doing extra [work] on their own. At the moment, the place is there for the taking. As long as they keep working hard, it's going to be a tough decision for us as a coaching staff, which is a good problem to have."

The defenders are led by two sophomores in Thibault Mathorez(Graces, France) and Steven Parry(Boulogne-Billancourt, France). Mathorez's first year in Orange and Blue was good enough to earn him a spot on the South Atlantic Conference First-Team. His five goals were the fourth most for C-N and he also added an assist. Those goals included one in his first college game on 9/5 vs. Alabama-Huntsville and three game-winners. Parry played in 17 games in 2015, starting 14 and proved to be a reliable member of the back line. He figures to get considerable playing time again this year.

"Last year we were really lucky to have James Ward and Sindre Welo back there," said Luchowa. "I think pushing forward, we have a similar thing with Thibault and Steven. They can both also play central midfield. It will interesting to see how they interact with the new players. It's going to be important for them to lead that back line."

The Eagles will have several other players competing for playing time on defense in seniors Samuel Amure(London, England) and Reece Fallon(Watford, England), juniors Colton Seale(Jefferson City, TN), Samuel Jenkins(Bicester, England) and Leon Mattig(Wettenberg, Germany) and freshmen James Coady(Franklin, TN) and Tobias Karlsen(Kongsvinger, Norway). Amure appeared in five games last season, while Seale has seen limited action in his career. Fallon is a graduate transfer from Wilmington University. Jenkins arrives from Cardiff Metropolitan University, while Mattig transferred from Technische-Hochschule-Mittelhessen in Germany. They'll all compete for playing time, as will Coady and Karlsen.

"We're really excited," Luchowa said. "Coach Moodie has recruited really well. We've got a lot of new faces and we have to get them settled in. We're taking it slowly."

The second piece in the 2016 Carson Newman men's soccer team preview will come out later this week and focus on the midfielders.

-CN-