VIDEO: Richard Moodie Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn - On Saturday, the Carson-Newman men's soccer team will recognize it's eight seniors, who are readying for their final home match as Eagles, during the squad's South Atlantic Conference match-up with the Coker Cobras at 4:30 p.m. at McCown Field.
During halftime, there will be a ceremony honoring seniors Aaron Zavolokin (Sydney, Australia), Samuel Amure (London, England), Poly Avgousti (Paphos, Cyprus), Reece Fallon (Watford, England), Jalen Goddard (Chattanooga, Tenn.), Colton Seale (Jefferson City, Tenn.), Johann Pereira (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Marius Staalby (Trondheim, Norway).
"I wish the season had been better for them," coach Richard Moodie said, "because those players, like a Marius Staalby, have been invested and he's been such a big part of my development as a head coach and helping me grow. We've shared some amazing times together, the good and the bad. It's going to be an emotional day regardless. Even for the players who have only been here for a year, we've spent every day here for the last five or six months. It's a difficult day, it always is, but it's a day that we just need to celebrate."
Staalby, Seale, Pereira, and Goddard have all spent four years at Carson-Newman, Avgousti and Amure are concluding their third seasons on campus and Fallon and Zavolokin are finishing up their first years in the Orange and Blue.
Zavolokin joined the program after previously attending both Limestone College and Peninsula College. He has seen action in C-N's last two matches, including receiving his first start as an Eagle in their game against Lincoln Memorial. The native of Australia has made six saves this season and possesses a goals-against average of 1.18.
After spending two years at the University of East Anglia, Amure came to Mossy Creek in 2014 and has made 21 appearances as an Eagle. He has been an important member of the team's back line this season, playing in 13 games with five starts. He's also contributed his first career goal this season and it was a game-winner in C-N's 1-0 victory over USC-Aiken on Sept. 12th.
Avgousti transferred to Carson-Newman from the University of Portsmouth and has accumulated 33 caps during his three seasons. The midfielder scored his initial C-N goal four minutes into his first game in 2015 against Alabama Huntsville. Avgousti has four career goals, including a score against Newberry on Sept. 17th that proved to be the game-winner. He also has six career assists. For his efforts, the senior was named Honorable Mention All-SAC in 2015 and was a preseason second-team All-SAC player in 2016.
Fallon came to Jefferson City after previously spending time at both McKendree University and Wilmington University. During his time at Carson-Newman, he has served a leader for the team, both on and off the field while also focusing in the classroom as he pursues a degree in business.
Goddard's four years on campus has seen him participate in 38 contests with 15 starts. Primarily a defenseman, he has also seen time in the midfield for Carson-Newman. He has two career assists to his credit and was also named Freshman of the Year for the 2013 C-N squad that finished as national runner-up.
Seale is another four year member of the team who will be making his final McCown Field appearance on Saturday. Over the course of four years at Carson-Newman, Seale has been part of a team that has won more than 45 games and he's also served a leadership role on Coach Moodie's team.
Pereira has struggled with injury problems during the last two seasons, but has remained an active part of the program. After transferring from IUPUI and redshirting in 2013, Pereira played in 14 games in 2014 and started three times. He picked up an assist against Queens (N.C.) and also got off six shots. Pereira is also attempting to earn a business degree.
Staalby is capping off a stellar career that's twice seen him named second-team All-SAC. He enters Saturday leading the team in goals with seven and he has scored 20 times in his career, which puts him tied for 10th in program history. The native of Trondheim has a pair of two-goal performances to his credit, first against Newberry last year and again at Lenoir-Rhyne this season. Staalby also has also totaled 12 assists.
Both teams come into Saturday looking for a win that will secure their spot in the SAC Tournament. The victor will guarantee themselves a place in postseason play. The Eagles, who are 7-9 and 3-7 in the SAC would be eliminated with a loss, while if Coker fell, they would need Brevard to defeat Queens (N.C.) in order to gain a spot in the Tourney. The Cobras are currently 6-7-1 and 4-6 in league play. They enter this match in a little bit of tailspin, having dropped four of five, including an 8-1 walloping at the hands of national No. 1 Wingate.
Coker's inability to score has been a problem all season, as they sit last in the SAC with only 19 goals. They have scored multiple goals six times this year, but they have also been shutout on three occasions, including two of their last three matches. The Cobras do have two players in the conference's top 10 in goals in Aladdin Elfares and Alvaro Urena. Elfares leads the team with eight scores, a total that places him eighth in the SAC and Urena is just one behind with seven and is tied for sixth. No player on the team has more than one assist this year and they only have five total.
Michael Ritterbeck has served as the main keeper for coach Chris Williams this season and he's made 52 saves this season. His goals-against average sits at 1.96 and he also owns a save percentage of .684. Ritterbeck also has one clean sheet this season.
Saturday will mark just the fourth meeting between these programs and the series is currently even at two wins apiece. The Eagles picked up their second win in the rivalry last year when they traveled to Hartsville, S.C. and won 1-0 on a goal by Sindre Welo in the 75th minute. The last time Coker visited McCown Field, they left with a 2-1 victory.
The match will be streamed live on cneagles.com/live with Mark Inserra calling all the action. Up-to-the-minute stats will also be available and, once the match concludes, cneagles.com is where you can go for the recap.
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