JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The 21st-ranked and top-seeded Carson-Newman men's soccer team (14-2-1, 9-2 SAC) opens postseason play with its first-ever tournament match against the Brevard Tornados (5-9-2, 4-5-2) in the postseason as the two teams open the South Atlantic Conference quarterfinals Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. on McCown Field.
The Tornados are making their first SAC Tournament appearance since 2010 when Brevard fell to Wingate 3-2 in double-overtime, while Carson-Newman has appeared in every conference tournament since 1993. Last season, C-N was the three-seed and hosted Tusculum in the SAC quarterfinals, but the Pioneers upset the Orange and Blue 2-1 with Tusculum continuing on to win the SAC Tournament.
Carson-Newman is the one-seed in the tournament for the eighth-time in school history and has a 9-6 record. As the top-seed, the Eagles have lost in the semifinals on six occasions, most recently in 2010. C-N won its lone SAC Tournament as the one in 2005.
Just 10 days ago, the Eagles and Tornados met on the banks of Mossy Creek for a Senior Night contest. On that evening, Carson-Newman turned in its first 30-shot performance in three years, but needed an 84th-minute header from senior Rurik Pereira (Rio da Janeiro, Brazil) to record the 1-0 win.
Brevard goalkeeper Heath Turner has started every game for the Tornados this season and has been the MVP for the squad. Turner stands well over six-feet tall and has made 72 saves. He owns a 1.17 goals against average and has allowed just 17 goals Against Carson-Newman in the regular season, the Kansas City, Mo.-native talled a career-high 12 saves.
Brevard fell to Queens (N.C.) on Saturday night 1-0 in overtime and is 2-2-1 in its last five contests. Carson-Newman has won its last eight matches.
Tuesday night's appearance will tie senior Sindre Welo for the school record with 75 career appearances. Welo leads the team on the season with eight goals, while junior Tom Read (London, England) is second in the conference with 25 points on seven goals and 11 assists.
Senior goalkeeper Kavi Luchowa (London, England) picked up his five shutout on the year against Coker on Saturday night and has seen his goals against average steadily drop to 1.18 goals against, which is sixth-best in the SAC. Luchowa had 61 saves in the regular season and a save percentage of .753.
Ticket prices for the doubleheader will be five dollars for adults, three dollars for younger under the age of 12, seniors over the age of 55 and active and retired military. College students that show their ID will be charged two dollars and anyone under the age of five will be admitted free of charge.
Carson-Newman and Brevard kick off at 7:30 p.m. from McCown Field with Michael Wottreng on the call on the Eagle Sports Network.
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