JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – To cap a four-game road trip, the South Atlantic Conference's second-place team, the Carson-Newman men's soccer team (7-2-1, 4-2), travels to Salisbury, N.C. to face the SAC's eight-best team, the Catawba Indians (5-5, 3-3 SAC), at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon at Frock Athletic Complex.
The Eagles have won five of their last seven contests, including a 2-1 win over the Southeast region's sixth-ranked Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday, while Catawba fell to Queens (N.C.) 2-1.
"It's easier to recover when you win those games than it is when you lose them. When you lose those games that are hard-fought, you kind of recover a little bit slower. The boys were tired and fatigued after Wednesday; the mentality of beating a good team on the road helps you recover and prepare for Saturday. You've got to be proud of the boys to pick up the result like they did," coach Richard Moodie said.
Catawba has dropped its last two contests against Queens and Brevard and the Indians have scored just one goal over the course of 180 minutes of play; the highest offensive output for the squad was a four goal performance at Newberry. The Indians are 3-3 in conference play with wins over the Wolves, Mars Hill and Coker. Catawba is coached by Ken Hassler who is in his third season at the helm of the Indians' program. Before coaching in Salisbury, Hassler was the coach at Division-II Montevallo, which is a member of the Peach Belt Conference. He owns a 19-22-3 record in the Blue and Red.
Senior midfielder Kenny Bonilla leads the Indians with fours goal and his nine points also lead the program. Sophomore defender Philipp Hollenhorst has two goals on the year on just five shots. Eight other Indians have each scored a lone goal on the season.
Christian Watts has made nine starts in goal for Catawba and allows an average of 1.48 goals against per game. In total, Watts has conceded 14 goals and has a save percentage of .689. Kennedy Little has made one start for the Indians and conceded two goals and made two saves.
Carson-Newman owns the series record 20-13-1 over the Indians and C-N is 6-4 at Frock Athetic Complex.
The Eagles and Indians kick off at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday in Salisbury. A full recap with stats and quotes will be available on cneagles.com following the match.
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