TIGERVILLE, S.C. – Goals from C-N veterans Tom Read and Johann Pereira pushed the Eagles to a season-opening 3-0 win against North Greenville at Pepsi Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Read had two goals on the day, scoring in each period of play. He got the Eagles (1-0) on the board early with a goal that sailed right past James Max Miller in the fourth minute of play. Jonny Le Quesne would be awarded the assist on the opening goal.
"After taking the lead, we had a few minutes where we needed to manage the game better and NGU started with a lot of energy," head coach Stephen Lyons said after picking up his first win at the helm of the Eagles men's soccer team. "I felt once we settled again, we played some good soccer."
Later in the 76th minute, a huge assist from Evan Harr became a header into the back of the net that would be the insurance the Eagles needed in the win. The midfielder ended the day with five shots and an assist.
Senior Johann Pereira picked up his first career goal in the match after a pass from Read that allowed him to get a quick kick-in near the goal to give the Eagles their second goal of the afternoon.
C-N held the Crusaders (0-1) to just two shots in the game with none of goal. Going into the half, the Eagles held an 8-1 lead in shooting, with two shots on goal. Picking up seven more shots in the second half, they were able to confidently hold off their Conference Carolinas opponent.
Twan Verweij picked up his first win for the Orange and Blue in front of the net, needing to make no saves on the two shots he faced to keep a clean sheet.
18 Eagles saw playing time in Saturday's game. Coach Lyons was pleased with how his team faced each transition.
"The number of changes we were able to make is testament to the depth we have, and I thought we had a lot of players who came on and had a very positive impact. To do well at this level you really need that depth so that was a huge plus.
C-N men's soccer now stands at an undefeated 5-0 in the series dating back to 2003.
The Eagles now look ahead to building off the opening win during Wednesday's match at Lees-McRae, another Conference Carolinas team. That game is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m.