SALISBURY, N.C. – The No. 25 Eagles collected their seventh-straight shutout victory with goals from Tobias Solem Karlsen and Thaylan Silva in a 3-0 win over the Catawba Indians of Catawba College on Saturday night at the Frock Soccer Complex.
Carson-Newman (9-1-1, 6-0-1) extends its unbeaten streak to nine consecutive games.
"Catawba are much better than their record suggests so we had to be patient at times to break them down," head coach Stephen Lyons said of his team's road performance. "We managed to do that and, as they wore down, we capitalized on opportunities."
Tobias Solem Karlsen put the Eagles on the board in the 14th minute after an assist from Silva. Karlsen netted a shot from 12 yards out of center. He has scored the first goal in five of 11 games in the 2017 campaign.
Into the second half of action, Silva had his turn scoring, notching his first career goal on an assisted score at the 74:34 mark, putting the Eagles up, 2-0.
Minutes later in the 82nd minute, Karlsen scored his 11th goal of the season with the helping hand of Jonny Le Quesne. His goal marks the fifth this season that has found the back of the net for the Eagles in the last 10 minutes of regulation.
Saturday was the second straight game that Karlsen had the first and last goals for the Eagles after scoring all three goals in Wednesday's victory over LMU.
Karlsen led C-N in shooting with five shots, followed closely by Tom Read who had four shots.
"The team combination for our third goal was very good," Lyons mentioned. "The guys seem to get better every game."
For the eighth time this season, Carson-Newman went into the half with the lead. The Eagles outshot Catawba 9-3 at the break, with five shots on goal as opposed to none from the Catawba Indians. C-N has held opponents to making 45 shots in the first half of games this season compared to the 84 shots the Eagles have attempted.
Catawba (1-7-1, 1-3-1) was outshot by the Eagles 16-11 in the matchup, only getting three shots on goal. Jack Ragen, Finley Carroll and Bradley Dowdall each had a pair of goals in the effort.
Eagles' goalkeeper Twan Verweij saved all three shots he faced, recording his eighth shutout this season. His three saves give him 25 on the season, 18 in conference play. His record in front of the net surges to 8-1-1 on the season.
Catawba Indians' netminder Evan Jeckells was only able to save three of the shots he faced in the game, all of his saves came in the second half. He stands at 1-3-1 on the season.
C-N has now played 745 minutes without seeing a goal from the opposition. The program itself has 143 shutout victories.
The Eagles' record against the Catawba Indians moves to a 22-14-1 advantage in favor of C-N, with the Eagles maintain an 8-4-0 lead at Catawba.
Carson-Newman stays on the road for a midweek matchup against Young Harris. That game is slated to begin at 7 p.m. at the Young Harris College Soccer and Lacrosse Field. Video and live stats will be provided by Young Harris while live updates will be available throughout the match from @CNathletics.
