VIDEO: Stephen Lyons Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Despite outshooting #19 Limestone (10-2-2, 7-2-1), Carson-Newman (4-6-5, 2-5-3) was unable to take advantage of its opportunities around goal, falling 2-0 Saturday night at McCown Field.
"Conceding two early goals it can be very easy to kind of drop off and lack pace, but we did not do that," Carson-Newman head coach Stephen Lyons said. "At halftime, we obviously told the guys we have plenty of time. We knew that next goal could be an important one to change that momentum. Unfortunately, we just did not execute tonight."
After being unbeaten at home prior to this week, C-N has now dropped back to back home matches. The Saints have now won two straight meetings against the Eagles, both coming in Mossy Creek.
Carson-Newman's defense was put right to the test in the opening minutes. Mark Radoki fired a shot at C-N goalkeeper Federico Simonetti (Crema, Italy) who was up for the stop in the 2nd minute.
The Eagles' first shot on goal came off the foot of Rhydian Williams (Conwy, Wales) who saw the attempt get saved by Henrik Dahl.
In the 13th minute, Limestone went on the attack. The Saints drew a foul in the box that awarded them a penalty kick opportunity. Claudel N'goubou took the penalty and just sneaked the ball past Simonetti in the bottom left corner of goal to put the Saints up 1-0.
The Eagles then began to compile chances of their own. Harry Whitehead (Oxford, England) and Mitchell Honcoop (Nieuw-Vennep, Netherlands) each had shots that forced Dahl saves in the 18th and 20th minutes.
Limestone put together another scoring chance when Simon Zahalka crossed a ball into the box that Radoki got a foot on and poked past Simonetti to give the Saints a 2-0 lead in the 26th minute.
Simonetti continued to battle in goal for C-N, making three more saves in the final 15 minutes of the opening half to keep the deficit at two. Carson-Newman outshot Limestone in the first half but trailed by two and had three less shots on goal as well.
Carson-Newman continued to create chances into the second half. Eight minutes into this second half, Honcoop had a shot saved by Dahl. C-N recorded three shots and a pair of corner kicks before Limestone recorded its first shot of the half.
In the 61st minute, Whitehead roped a ball toward the goal that banged off the post and went out of play. The Eagles continued to fire shots but only managed to threaten Dahl one more time in the 86th minute when Williams shot one that the keeper Dahl made his fifth and final save on.
Carson-Newman outshot #19 Limestone 17-13 but was outshot 7-5 on goal. De Graauw, Honcoop and Whitehead each recorded a team-high three shots.
Simonetti finished the game with five saves, his second-most in a game this season.
The Eagles now turn their attention to senior day on Wednesday against Tusculum at 5:00 p.m.
