JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. — Not only is at least a share of the South Atlantic Conference title on the line Saturday when the Carson-Newman men's soccer team hosts Newberry College, but a berth in the NCAA Division II soccer tournament as well.
The Eagles are 10-4-1 on the season and 7-1 in the SAC, tied with Wingate for the top spot. The Bulldogs will take the No. 1 SAC tournament seed if the two teams tie by virtue of a 6-0 win over C-N on Oct. 16. Wingate has a tough game at Lincoln Memorial Saturday at 4 p.m.
"We're going to cheer for LMU for probably the first and only time," C-N head men's soccer coach Allen Vital joked.
The Eagles will host an emotional contest with Newberry on McCown Field Saturday at 7 p.m. It's "Senior Night" and Carson-Newman will be celebrating the last regular season home game of some of the best players the school has ever produced.
Richard Marquetty (New York, N.Y.), Gustavo Jimenez (Alpharetta, Ga.), Ben Backstrom (Knoxville, Tenn.), Matthew Finlay (Liverpool, England) and Jordan Moore (Hendersonville, Tenn.) will all be honored Saturday night as they help Carson-Newman fight for its third consecutive SAC regular season title.
"These guys have had tremendous careers here," Vital said. "They're such great kids. They're all making a bid for their third or fourth conference championships. They find themselves with a great opportunity to do it again. Everyone will be pulling together and doing their best to make this happen."
The Wolves represent nothing less than a trap game for Carson-Newman. Newberry is winless in conference play this season with a record of 0-7-1. The Wolves have won just one game all season.
The Eagles are currently ranked No. 6 in the NCAA D-II Southeast Regional standings and if they can finish in that spot or better, they can guarantee an eighth NCAA tournament bid.
"We're sitting in sixth place and that's where the games are important," Vital said. "Six teams from the region get to go. The region has been so competitive, we feel fortunate to be where we are."
Carson-Newman must dodge the Newberry landmine.
"They (Newberry) aren't having a good year, but these are difficult games," Vital said. "You have to stay focused and show up. Sometimes that's the hardest thing to do. This happens so many times in our league. Our league is so balanced that on any given day anybody can beat anybody. I don't think there's a chance of them taking this game lightly."
The Eagles are coming off a huge 2-0 win over then No. 17-ranked Mars Hill. C-N has won seven of its last nine games. Carson-Newman has two dangerous scorers in Robert Hill and Emmanuel Aboagye. Hill has nine goals on the season. Aboagye has five. Daniel Zitt and Adam Thomas have three goals apiece.
"They're trying to be consistent and we've played well at home," Vital said. "You'd look on paper and think Newberry would be an easy opponent, but we don't take anything for granted. It took us double overtime to win the game (against Newberry) last year."
