Posted: Oct 29, 2021
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - The Carson-Newman men's soccer team prepares for their toughest match yet this season as the Eagles host the #11 Limestone Saints on Saturday, Oct. 30 at 7:30 P.M.
With a win, Carson-Newman would clinch their second straight SAC regular season championship and their third straight #1 seed entering the SAC Tournament. The conference did not declare a conference regular season champion during the 2021 spring season. The Eagles sit atop the SAC conference table with 24 points, while Limestone sits behind them at second place with 22 points. It would be the first back-to-back regular season championships for the Eagles since the team won three straigh regular season championships from 2008-2010.
"The guys have bought in since day one and winning back-to-back championships would be huge," says head coach Stephen Lyons. "With it being homecoming on Saturday we hope we can get a big crowd and can see us win such a big conference championship."
Carson-Newman is coming off a 3-1 senior day victory over Coker on Oct. 23. The Eagles rallied from an early 1-0 defecit thanks to Gabe Martin's first career goal and a pair of second half goals by Thaylan Silva. By scoring two goals on the Cobras, Silva became the first Eagle since 1994 to record three straight braces. Silva scored a pair of goals at LMU and Newberry on Oct. 13 and Oct. 16.
For his offensive output, Silva was honored as SAC Offensive Player of the Week for the second week in a row, the first SAC player to earn the accolade in back-to-back weeks this season. Silva is also the first SAC player to earn the award in back-to-back weeks since his teammate Bram Kaarsgaren did so on Mar. 31 and Apr. 7.
✌️ Back-to-back @SAC_Athletics Offensive Player of the Week honors
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) October 26, 2021
�� The first @CNmenssoccer player to record three straight braces since 1994
8⃣th in the nation in game-winners
Thaylan Silva has been on a roll this season
�� https://t.co/Fhc1I0jjfB pic.twitter.com/AFJUu3bjEh
Silva leads the Eagles in goals with 11 and points with 25. Silva sits at fifth all-time in assists with 18, just one shy of tying Robert Hill for fourth most assists all-time. His four game-winners this season rank first in the SAC and eighth in all of Division II.
"Thay provides it all," says Lyons. "He's on a great run of form and has also been able to get others involved on the team."
Another record was surpassed by the Carson-Newman senior class during the matchup against Coker in the 83rd minute when Greg Evans passed Sindre Welo for the school record for most minutes played in a career. The senior captain enters the weekend with 6,014 minutes played during his six years at Mossy Creek. Evans can also tie Vince Vargas for third most starts all-time on Saturday with what would be his 69th career start for the Eagles.
68 starts.
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) October 25, 2021
73 appearances.
Most minutes played in @CNmenssoccer history.
The captain, @gregevans07, has done it. pic.twitter.com/dAM5d3SPgG
In net for the Eagles, Kaarsgaren can pass Tyler Baldock for third-most all-time in games started at keeper if he records his 39th career start this weekend. Kaarsgaren sits at first in the SAC in save percentage at 0.776% and has the second lowest goals allowed average in the conference at 1.06.
Against the Saints, C-N leads the overall series 2-1-1 with two meetings being held in the NCAA Tournament. The Eagles shocked the Saints in Gaffney in 2013 on their run to the national championship game with a 3-1 victory in the second round. Limestone secured their revenge two years later in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament with a 3-1 victory in Young Harris, Ga.
The two squads have only met once in the fall regular season, almost 24 years to the day on Oct. 29, 1997. A pair of second half goals by Josh Christian and Mike Eddy gave the Eagles the 2-0 victory. Carson-Newman outshot the Saints 21-3 in the match
The last time these two teams met was in a scoreless draw during the 2021 spring season that was deemed a non-conference matchup. Both teams combined to record just five shots on goal. The two sides did not play an overtime period as both coaches agreed to end the game in regulation at 0-0.
This is the first time the Eagles and Saints have met as conference opponents. Carson-Newman is 6-8 all-time against first-time conference opponents, going 0-7 in their first year in the SAC in 1989. Since then, the Eagles are 6-1 against first-time SAC opponents, including a five match winning streak that started on Sept. 18, 2009 with a 6-0 victory over Brevard.
Limestone enters the game ranked #11 in the nation and #5 in the NCAA Super Region 2 Polls. The last time Carson-Newman faced a ranked opponent was during the 2021 spring SAC Conference Tournament semifinals when the Eagles fell 2-0 at home to the #25 Wingate Bulldogs. The Eagles last win over a ranked team was on Oct. 12, 2019, a 1-0 victory in overtime over #15 Coker. Eagles head coach Stephen Lyons is 2-4-1 in his tenure vs ranked opponents.
Limestone was shutout for the first time this season last Saturday, Oct. 23 in a 0-0 draw with Queens. It was the first time the Saints had been shutout since a two game stretch in the 2021 spring season where the Saints finished with a scoreless draw vs Carson-Newman and lost to Anderson 1-0 on Feb. 19 and Mar. 11.
The Saints current two-match road set is their second back-to-back road trip of the season. Limestone defeated North Greenville 1-0 on Sept. 7 in Tigerville before falling to #20 Young Harris on Sept. 11 in Georgia. Limestone is 4-1-1 this season in road matchups and 12-7-2 away from Gaffney in the past three seasons. Limestone have been road warriors this millennium, their last losing record in road matches being an 0-7-2 mark in 2005.
Limestone leads the SAC in shutouts with seven. That mark also ranks them 9th in all of Division II.The Saints are also allowing just 8.1 shots per game to their opponents this season.
Johann Hipper has been a wall in net for the Saints this season. Hipper has allowed just 10 goals this season, second in the SAC, and has the best GAA in the conference at 0.82. That mark ranks him 27th in the nation. Hipper's save percentage of .750 is ranked 3rd in the SAC. Hipper earned his second SAC Defensive Player of the Week Award this week, making him and Silva the only two players in the SAC to earn weekly conference laurels twice this season.
Offensively, the Saints are lead by Antonio Ferreria and Mark Radoki. Ferreria has recorded six assists this season, tied for first most in the conference. The junior out of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil also recorded a goal in the Saints 7-1 win over Newberry on Sept. 29. Radoki leads Limestone in points with 14 and in goals with six. Radoki has done this with just 14 shots in the entire season and has only started in five matches for the Saints.
Limestone is second in the SAC in goals scored with 31 but is in the bottom fourth of the conference in shots with 155, ranking 8th. The Saints have been on target this seaon however, ranking first in the conference in Shot on Goal percentage with a whopping .529%
"We're going to have to get creative in the final third and take chances when we get them," says Lyons. "Back to front they're very talented and while they don't get a lot of chances, we hope we can limit them on offense. They're ranked so high in the nation and the region because of how deep they are and how well they play as a unit."
The two squads will close out homecoming weekend in Mossy Creek at 7:30 PM. Fans who cannot make it to McCown Field can catch the live stream and live stats for free on the Eagle Sports Network at cneagles.com/live. Fans can also keep it locked and loaded with live in-game updates on the new social media home for Carson-Newman athletics on Twitter at @cn_eagles.
