JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman men's soccer team (5-1-1) has its bags packed for a 3 p.m. kickoff at Appalachian State's Ted Mackorell Soccer Complex in Boone, N.C. to face the Lees-McRae Bobcats (3-4) on Wednesday afternoon.
Kickoff was originally slated for 7:30 p.m. at Tate Field on Lees-McRae's campus but was moved to 3 p.m. in Boone due to torrential rain over the course of the last 24 hours. Ted Mackorell Soccer Complex is able to host the contest because of its turf field.
The Eagles are ranked seventh in the Southeast region in Tuesday's National Soccer Coaches Association of America regional ranking released earlier Tuesday. C-N is making its first appearance in the rankings since the second week of September thanks due a three-game win streak for the Orange and Blue.
The Bobcats have lost their last two contests, which were against teams ranked in the top-15 in the country. Lees-McRae fell at No. 12 Limestone 5-1 and lost 4-0 on the road against No. 4 Pfeiffer; the Falcons and Saints are the top-two teams in the Southeast region, according to the NSCAA. Lees-McRae knocked off Florida Southern, Tusculum and Southern Wesleyan thus far in 2015. Rich Wall is in his first year with Lees-McRae and owns a 3-4 record. Last season, Walll was an assistant coach at Brevard and before that, he worked with Gardner-Webb University as the Director of soccer operations.
Lees-McRae's leading scorer is sophomore Thomas Deeley who has three goals on the year for the Bobcats. Deeley also has an assist and leads the team with seven points. Pol Vassart is the other Lees-McRae player with multiple scores with two. Nathan Watt and Matthew Cureton have two assists. Sophomore Tyler Pavlet and senior Gus Pederson have split time in goal for the Bobcats. The duo have combined to allow 18 goals in net and made only 19 saves. Pederson leads the team with two shutouts.
Carson-Newman is playing its third road match of the year and the Eagles have won both of the previous two games away from McCown Field. C-N tallied its lone clean sheet of the year on the road at Belmont Abbey with a 5-0 win and knocked off Mars Hill last Wednesday thanks to two goals in the last six minutes of play and beat the Lions 4-3.
The two programs are meeting for the 10th-time and Carson-Newman have won three of the previous nine meetings, including the last two. The Eagles won 2-0 in 2012 and 2-1 in 2013.
Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. at Ted Mackorell Soccer Complex in Boone, N.C. and a full recap and stats will be on cneagles.com following the conclusion of the match.
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