VIDEO: Will-Sainsbury Logan Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – A 3-0 victory over visiting Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday night sends the No. 25 Eagles back on to the road, as they head to Salisbury, N.C. to take on the Catawba Indians of Catawba College on Saturday night.
"There's still a confidence with this team that when we're putting in the hard work, good things are going to happen," head coach Stephen Lyons said of the win.
The Eagles (8-1-1, 5-0-1) win on Wednesday marked the team's best start through the first 10 games since the 2007 9-1 start.
The story of the game, however, was Tobias Solem Karlsen's second hat trick of the season. He is now the first player in program history to have two 3-goal games in one season. The sophomore leads the team and conference with nine goals in 2017.
That second hat trick feeling ������@CNmenssoccer pic.twitter.com/HIvgLBUgAT
— C-N Athletics (@CNathletics) October 5, 2017
His first goal came in the 38th minute with an assist from Jonny Le Quesne, allowing the Eagles to head into the half holding a 1-0 lead with both teams only making five shots apiece through the first 45 minutes.
The second half was full of breaks and opportunities made on all areas of the pitch, but it was Carson-Newman who was able to fully capitalize.
A ball sent into a hoard of players near the C-N bench was knocked around from Will Sainsbury-Logan to Ashley Kelynack for a brief moment before ending up with Karlsen, arching in a shot from 18 yards out to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead.
"I saw that the defender had a bad touch and I sort of just pounced on it," Sainsbury-Logan said. "It was sort of a rough play, but we sort of managed to get out of it.
"It was more of a deflection (to Karlsen), but I got a touch on it and it was a great finish. "
After multiple chances from the Railsplitters, a penalty kick in the 84th minute from Karlsen put the final dagger into LMU's chances of coming back.
Want to see what a @CNmenssoccer PK looks like from behind the net? We've got you covered. pic.twitter.com/f5Q5Az3zN8
— C-N Athletics (@CNathletics) October 5, 2017
AstroTurf SAC Men's Soccer Player of the Week Twan Verweij had three saves in the win, giving him 22 on the season. He leads the conference in shutouts with seven and is second nationally, trailing behind Carlos Rubio of Ohio Valley. His .917 save percentage is good enough for the top spot in the SAC this season and a second-ranked national spot behind Hedi Mehnaoui of Davis & Elkins with .926, the same percentage held by the leader of the Division-I category (Trey Muse, Indiana).
As the team picked up its sixth consecutive shutout victory, seventh-straight clean sheet, in the midweek battle, a powerful defensive showing by the entire team helped push the team to 655 minutes of play without an opposition goal.
With a shutout percentage of 0.78, the Eagles are at the top of the conference standings in the ranking, while sitting at second nationally behind Lynn (0.86).
Next on the docket for Carson-Newman is a sixth road trip of the season, sending them to Catawba College.
"We take every game as it comes," Sainsbury-Logan mentioned. "We go with the same mentality, same sort of attitude that we have to do our jobs first. Like Wednesday's game, we all worked really hard so we just have to bring that exact same attitude into the next game."
Catawba stands at 1-6-1 entering the match after a 1-1 tie against Queens (N.C.) on Wednesday. The 2017 campaign started with a five-game losing skid, dropping games to Erskine, Mount Olive, Newberry and back-to-back shutouts at the hands of Belmont Abbey and Mars Hill. The Catawba Indians' lone win on the season came on Sept. 23 in a 2-1 victory over Coker.
Head Coach Ken Hassler is in his fifth season at Catawba. He holds a 31-40-4 record, going 18-27-4 in conference play.
Phillipp Hollenhorst returns for Catawba after being named an All-Conference all American after last season. He had two goals last season with four of his 10 shots going on goal. He leads the team with three goals on the season starting in all eight games the team has played. His three goals tie him at 12th in the conference.
The Catawba Indians have relied on three goalkeepers throughout the season to guard the net: Evan Jeckells, Joe Gonzalez and Trey Orner. Jeckells leads the trio with a 1-2-1 record, saving just 21 of the 66 shots he has faced this season. Catawba leads the conference for goals allowed with 22, tied at the top alongside Newberry.
Last year's meeting between the two teams ended in a 1-0 win for the Catawba Indians, the winning goal coming from Hollenhorst late in the game.
"We can't take any game for granted," Lyons said. "We have to focus on Saturday and make sure that we take care of business again then."
This is the 37th meeting between the Eagles and Catawba Indians with C-N holding a 21-14-1 advantage in the series dating back to 1989. Carson-Newman has gone 7-4-0 when visiting Catawba throughout the years.
Carson-Newman heads back onto the road Saturday night for a matchup with the Catawba Indians of Catawba College. That game is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Frock Soccer Complex. Live stats will be provided by Catawba. Follow @CNathletics for updates throughout the match.