JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – This is the first part of a three-part series previewing the 2023 Carson-Newman men's soccer season. We begin by previewing the Eagles' defenders and goalkeepers with help from sophomore Issac Pascal.
The Eagles sported the fifth best defense in league play, allowing 14 goals in 11 games during the season. C-N recorded three clean sheets, all of which came during conference play. Overall, C-N allowed 27 goals, 14 of which were scored in the final month of the season.
A pair of juniors return to the backline in Daniel Vennesland (Tanager, Norway.) and Jakob Lechner (Enzesfeld-Lindabrunn, Austria). Vennesland has 18 career starts in his first two seasons in Mossy Creek. Lechner returns after a very productive sophomore season. He started in 16 games and was a key central defender for the Eagles. He scored his first career goal against Lee on Sept 3.
Issac Pascal is the only other returning defensive piece from 2022. As a freshman, he appeared in 11 games, making six starts, four of which came at the end of the season.
"I think just having a good group around me," Pascal said. "We have a good group of coaches and a good group of teammates around me, it really allowed me to settle in as a freshman. It was a very welcoming place and it made it easy for me to slot in toward the end of the season."
The rest of the defensive is made up of newcomers. Jonas Friedl (Feldbach, Styria), Dan Coles (Rugby, England), Sam Shelling (Nelson, New Zealand), Mac Hickman (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and Tai Cariah are all incoming freshman that will look to see time on the pitch early in their career. Bart Schijvenaars is another newcomer that comes to C-N as a junior.
"I've seen some really promising signs from all of them," Pascal said. "Of course, it may be a very freshman heavy backline this year, so that is something we have to be weary of. I'm confident that from the things I have seen in training that we will be fine this season."
For the second straight season, C-N will have to find a new keeper to man the net. With the graduation of Darin De Meza, that leaves three goalkeepers vying for time in the net.
Levi Burdette (Seymour, Tenn.) and Eric Thust (Karlsruhe, Germany) are the two returning goalkeepers. Thust won both of his starts last season, making one save in the matches. Those two will compete with graduate transfer Federico Simonetti for time in goal. Simonetti joins C-N after three seasons at Concordia University (Neb.). He made 13 appearances in his two playing seasons.
"Eric and Federico have come in and shown that they can do more than fill the gap," Pascal said. "The things I have seen from them so far is really promising, and really exciting."
Carson-Newman's position previews continue on Saturday with a peak at the midfielders with assistance from sophomore Paul Csmarich.
