JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - The Carson-Newman Men's Soccer Team (5-3-1, 3-1-0 SAC) got back on the winning track Saturday evening as it defeated South Atlantic Conference rival Lenoir-Rhyne University (5-4-1, 1-1-0 SAC) by a 2-1 margin at McCown Field.

"It's important because it's a conference match," said Head Coach Allen Vital. "We always have to fight hard to win. Our guys played with a lot of effort, they deserved to win tonight and I'll give them credit for that."

After a scoreless 45 minutes, Carson-Newman got on the board just 1:12 into the second half when senior Omar Cooke (Roanoke, Va.) headed in a throw-in by Ben Backstrom (Knoxville, Tenn.) for his team-leading sixth goal of the year.

L-R scored the equalizing goal five minutes later when Oriol Cortes (Barcelona, SPAIN) headed a pass from John Ferguson (Fife, SCOTLAND) into the back of the net.

"Lenoir-Rhyne was no pushover tonight," added Vital. "They play a very direct style of soccer with a lot of long passes and defensive pressure. Even when they were down they played hard to stay in the game."

Robert Hill (Middlesbrough, ENGLAND) scored the match-winner off a pass from Daniel Zitt (Morristown, Tenn.) at the 67:36 mark.

C-N's Jordan Moore (Hendersonville, Tenn.) picked up the win in goal making two saves while Tom Heath (Solihull, ENGLAND) tallied three saves for L-R despite the loss.

Carson-Newman will visit Concord on Tuesday evening for a 4:00 p.m. match with the Mountain Lions.