VIDEO: Stephen Lyons interview
VIDEO: Matheus Maia interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. -- A trio of second-half goals propelled Carson-Newman to its third-straight clean sheet of the season with a 3-0 win over Tusculum to cap off senior day derby on Friday evening at McCown Field.
With the win, Carson-Newman (4-1-1, 3-1 South Atlantic Conference) extends its winning streak on the year to three-straight and breaks a four-match winless skid against Tusculum (1-3-1, 0-3-1 SAC) since a double-overtime victory on the home pitch on Oct. 19, 2016. This is just the third shutout victory in the series for C-N, the first since a 1-0 overtime win at Tusculum on Oct. 30, 2013. Friday's win matches the largest margin of victory for the Orange and Blue over its rival. The previous two three-goal wins came in 2010 and 2005.
This run of shutout victories marks the most for the unit in a single season since the 2017 campaign when it pieced together seven-consecutive. Bram Kaarsgaren (Den Bosch, The Netherlands) expands his shutout tally to four this season, giving him 8.1 overall. He is now tied for seventh on the career shutout list with Rumwald Le Guevel (2012-13).
Matheus Maia (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), Yannick Kranz (Hannover, Germany) and Benjamin Stein (Berlin, Germany) all recorded their first goals of the season with Kranz and Stein's goals being career-firsts. For Maia and Stein, they came into the game off the bench to become decision-makers, attempting one shot each.
"Just taking our opportunities," Carson-Newman coach Stephen Lyons said. "I still thought in the first half, we created a couple good ones and just didn't fall our way. Hit the post, hit the bar early in the second half. Once we did get the breakthrough, we played some good football still. At 1-0, Bram came up with a huge save to keep it 1-0 and then we go on to get the second and have the confidence to get the third. Credit on both sides, not just putting the goals in, but Bram had that fantastic save at 1-0."
C-N had a strong chance to score directly in front of the box in the sixth minute. Thaylan Silva (São Paulo, Brazil) played a ball at the mouth of the net that nearly crossed the goal line but was sent out of the way by a Pioneer at the last second.
In the 38th minute, the Eagles had a trio of chances ricochet off the post, crossbar and go wide in a matter of 10 seconds, sent by Harry Whitehead (Oxford, England), Theo Hardenby Öhrwall (Stockholm, Sweden) and Silva.
By the halftime break, C-N was leading in chances 8-3 with a narrow 3-2 advantage for shots on goal.
The scoreless affair came to an end early in the second half thanks to Matheus Maia (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). A quick dish from Ben King (Hertfordshire, England) to Silva allowed a look down the right side of the pitch to an open Maia. A speedy move into the upper 18-yard box brought a meeting between Maia and Tusculum keeper Joao Kozlowski that he sent right past Kozlowski for a 1-0 advantage in the 47th minute. It was the first goal for the junior since Oct. 8, 2019, the second of his career, and became his first game-winner.
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— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CNathletics) March 26, 2021
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"We knew Tusculum was tired, especially in that second half, coming off of two overtimes," Maia said. "We talked about the runs and I was happy to make the run," Maia said. "I looked over my shoulder and there was no one so I just kept going."
A Pioneer breakaway led to a one-on-one face-off between Kaarsgaren and Jean-Pierre Vital in the 70th minute. He launched a shot right at the C-N keeper which he quickly grabbed for his fourth and final save of the contest.
That attempt by Vital ended up being the last shot on goal Tusculum would see the rest of the evening.
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— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CNathletics) March 26, 2021
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In the 80th minute, a penalty inside the box gave the Orange and Blue a chance for a penalty kick to extend the lead. Yannick Kranz (Hannover, Germany) lined up from the penalty marker and fired a shot past a falling Kozlowski to put C-N 2-0 with his first goal of the season.
Lyons' group is now 2-2 in penalty kick attempts this year.
Carson-Newman found itself with a man-up advantage in the 82nd minute with Marc Caceres being booked for a red card, the second of the year for the Pioneers. Facing 10 players, the Eagles capitalized with a dagger in the 83rd minute. Nyasha Mwamuka (Newtown, Wales) created enough separation from a Tusculum defender to get a pass off to fellow senior Harrison Collins (Cardiff, Wales). His quick touch was handed off to Stein and was just as quickly sent into the lower left of the net to seal the deal for C-N.
This was the first time that the Eagles won a match with a player advantage since Oct. 13, 2018 when they defeated Queens, 3-1.
Carson-Newman closed the match with its highest shot tally of the season, out-shooting Tusculum 23-6. The last time the group saw over 20 shots in a game came back on Oct. 26, 2019 when it launched 25 at Catawba. Its nine shots on frame match the second-most of the season. Whitehead led the group with six shot attempts. He and Nic Carsh (Newberg, Ore.) were the lone Eagles to land a pair of shots on frame.
Damien Baltide led the Pioneers with two shots, both on goal. Tusculum as a whole collected the second-highest amount of saves among C-N opponents this season with six. Five of those were by Kozlowski in net.
The two teams turn the matchup around now for a Monday meeting at Pioneer Field to make up for the match that was postponed back on March 11. Kickoff is once again set for 5 p.m. The folks at Tusculum will provide a live broadcast of the game that can be accessed by clicking here.
