VIDEO: Stephen Lyons Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – South Atlantic Conference play gets underway on Thursday as Carson-Newman hosts Lincoln Memorial to open the gates to McCown Field for the first time in the spring of 2021.
This marks the official start of pod action for Carson-Newman (1-0-1, 0-0), sitting in the league's pod 3 with LMU (0-0, 0-0), Tusculum and Mars Hill. All of the SAC teams will be divided geographically into three pods composed of four teams each, allowing for one home and one away contest within each pod. The top teams from each pod will advance to the postseason.
Carson-Newman is in the midst of just its third 1-0-1 start to a season in program history, a genesis that it also saw in 2001 and 1999. The Eagles picked up their eighth tie of the Stephen Lyons era in their last appearance on the pitch with a 0-0 draw at Limestone on February 19.
"Belmont Abbey, yeah, it was pretty solid under really tough conditions. We managed to get some good combinations in and get a good result," Carson-Newman coach Stephen Lyons said. "Against Limestone, a little bit of a subpar performance, really. Obviously, Limestone are a really good team, really well-organized, but I thought we could have been a little more clinical in the final third and that's obviously what we've been working on quite a bit going into Thursday's game."
The first clean sheet of the season lifted keeper Bram Kaarsgaren (Den Bosch, The Netherlands) to his first SAC Defensive Player of the Week plaudit of the season, the third of his career. C-N has now gone back-to-back weeks with a player being recognized by the league with Theo Hardenby Öhrwall (Stockholm, Sweden) being named the offensive pick last week. It's the first time C-N has seen consecutive selections since the 2017 season when Twan Verweij and Tobias Solem Karlsen went back-to-back.
For the first time this season and the third time in his @CNmenssoccer career, @bramkaarsgaren has been named the @SAC_Athletics Defensive Player of the Week.
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CNathletics) February 24, 2021
��: https://t.co/LFjzDFvxX6 pic.twitter.com/9BFztP31OD
The Eagles have not played a match on the home pitch since it was upset by eighth-seeded Coker in the SAC Tournament Quarterfinals on Nov. 9, 2019, falling 5-1 to bow out of the tournament as the top-seed.
This season, C-N hosts three matches inside the friendly confines. Since 1990, the program has compiled a 167-77-19 record in matches played on the banks of Mossy Creek. In coach Stephen Lyons' tenure, C-N has gone 14-6-3 when playing at home.
Since 1990, the Eagles have gone 18-9-2 in home-opening games, winning the last five such games with a 16-4 scoring advantage.
"I think you kinda go into every game with the same perspective, but when it is shortened, it's almost like every game is a cup final now," Lyons said. "I'm sure both teams are going to be really, really up for it. So I imagine it will start off pretty high-paced, but I think, again, it's always important that we play our game, implement our style, and obviously going to have to put in a good performance against a very good LMU team that beat Lenoir-Rhyne recently."
This meeting marks the 34th between C-N and LMU in a series that dates back to 1989. The two sides have met on the banks of Mossy Creek 16 previous times with a deadlocked 8-8 record in those matches. LMU has not won a game in Jefferson City since Oct. 25, 2016. The Eagles hold a 62-58 scoring advantage all-time against the 'Splitters, outscoring 35-25 at home.
Lyons' group holds a three-match winning streak in the series. A win on Thursday would match the longest winning streak for the Orange and Blue in the series at four, a string of wins that has been seen twice before, 1991-1995 and 2000-2003.
In their last meeting, C-N used a two-goal second half to complete the comeback bid in its first SAC game of the season. While they had the comeback completed in the 80th, the Eagles had to play the final 8:58 with just 10 players following a red card shown to Tony Saldana. Jorge Melgar got LMU on the board first with a helping hand from Ueslei Silva in the 37th minute. Thaylan Silva scored off of a rebound from a deflected header out of a corner kick to tie the match in the 64th minute. Making his C-N debut, Sofian Maghouz sent a short arching shot for the game-winner. The Eagles outshot the Railsplitters 15-10 while also edging them in shots on goal, 8-7.
Lincoln Memorial heads into its season-opener after winning both of its exhibition matches throughout preseason play, taking down Lee, 3-1, and Lenoir-Rhyne, 1-0.
Led by second-year head coach Robert Spain, the Railsplitters were projected to finish seventh in this season's SAC Preseason Coaches poll. They went 5-4-1 in conference play a season ago, 6-8-3 overall. They fell to third-seeded Wingate in the quarterfinal of the SAC tournament as the No. 6 seed, 6-0.
Hunter Stroble was the lone 'Splitter to receive preseason All-SAC nods this year. His second-team midfielder laurel comes after a freshman campaign that came with 15 starts in 17 appearances. His two goals last season were tied for third-most on the team with three assists.
LMU heads into this season without All-SAC picks Danilo Seglio and Alan Brandao from last season. Seglio, a second-team midfielder, scored the second-most goals on the team with three. First-team defender Brandao joins the coaching staff this season as an assistant coach.
Robin Hermann returns in net this season after starting in all 15 of his appearances in his freshman year. Through 1,343 minutes of action, he allowed 21 goals with 72 saves with a 5-7-3 record. He recorded 4.1 shutouts.
LMU has not faced a season-opening loss since the 2016 season when it fell to Montevallo. Since then, it has gone 2-0-1 in such games.
Kickoff against the Railsplitters is slated for 5 p.m. inside of Harvey Stadium. Fans can catch a live stream of the match on cneagles.com/live.
