VIDEO: Stephen Lyons Interview
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – With sweltering heat beating down on a physical matchup that saw a second-highest season total of 24 fouls, the Eagles were able to make the most of the opportunities set before them, defeating to Barry 2-1 on Saturday evening at the Baylor School Soccer Complex.
Carson-Newman (3-0) now holds one victory in the all-time series with the Buccaneers (3-1-0), moving the record to 1-1-1.
"I thought, overall, it was another solid performance," head coach Stephen Lyons said. "Just getting stronger every game. I thought the effort from the guys was phenomenal. Because of the work rate, we created chances against a good Barry team and when the chances came, we took them. I thought it was thoroughly deserved but definitely well-earned, as well."
The Eagles held the Bucs to just a trio of shots in the first half of the contest while taking 10 of their own. As for the second half, Barry was able to find more opportunities, outshooting C-N 8-7 in the frame.
Overall, Lyons' group landed twice as many shots on target than Barry did, leading the line 10-5.
Both teams fell into a bit of a sluggish start at the beginning of the game. Just under the 39-minute mark, Ashley Kelynack (High Wycombe, England) made a pass to Jonny Le Quesne (Jersey, Channel Islands). The senior midfielder then made a shot toward the right side of the net, connecting for his first goal of the season to put C-N up 1-0. The team would hold that lead for the rest of the opening half.
"It was just a really good counter-attack," Le Quesne said. "Ash drove the ball the whole way up the park and then I was lucky to keep up with him somehow and just let it in under the keeper."
VIDEO: Jonny Le Quesne Interview
Both of the shots Le Quesne attempted fell on target in the win.
The Eagles kept the momentum on their side early in the second half, scoring just a minute after the half began.
Tobias Solem Karlsen (Kongsvinger, Norway) slid a pass over to Kelynack that the forward sent off of the left side of his boot from the top left quadrant of the 18-yard box to extend the Carson-Newman lead 2-0.
Kelynack now leads the team in goals this season with three, matching his total from the 2017 campaign. He also led all the players on the pitch Saturday is shooting with four, three of them sailing on target.
Second half begins aaaaand another goal! Kelynack gets a pass from Karlsen that he sends off of the side of his foot for a goal that easily sails in.@CNmenssoccer 2@BarryUSoccer 0
— C-N Athletics (@CNathletics) September 8, 2018
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�� https://t.co/hXALrZiL4v pic.twitter.com/eOoLjxu7EO
"Once we kind of felt our rhythm, we controlled the ball a lot better and created the better opportunities, I felt," Lyons mentioned. "In the first half, we got the goal that we needed which kind of took the pressure off of ourselves and build on that."
With a third-straight clean sheet on the horizon, Barry made a break late in the 84th minute as C-N conceded its first goal of the season. Ander Urkidi passed the ball to James Kirkham. From there, Kirkham made a dash up the middle of the field toward the 18-yard box to put the Bucs on the board, cutting the C-N lead down 2-1.
The Bucs kept their foot on the gas in the waning minutes but not enough to overcome the Eagles.
Twan Verweij (Utrecht, Netherlands) made four saves in the match, the second-most he has faced this season, bringing him to 10 on the year with one goal allowed for a save percentage of .909.
As for Barry's Marco Sordi, he faced a hectic night with eight saves as he picked up his first loss of the season in front of the net.
There were fouls aplenty in the match with 14 being called against Carson-Newman and 10 against Barry. Both sides picked up a pair of yellow cards, as well.
The Eagles now look ahead to opening their South Atlantic Conference schedule with a trip to Hickory, N.C. to face Lenoir-Rhyne on Wednesday. That game will kick off at 5:00 p.m. from Bears Field.