JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Making its first appearance in the South Atlantic Conference Tournament semifinals since 2012, the top-seeded Carson-Newman men's soccer team (15-2-1) is set to face the Queens (N.C.) Royals (10-7) at 11 a.m. at Manchester Meadows in Rock Hill, S.C. with a trip to the SAC Tournament finals on the line.
The 14th-ranked Eagles advanced to the stage after a 4-0 win over Brevard on Tuesday night at McCown Field, while the Royals held off the Anderson (S.C.) Trojans 2-1 in Charlotte after a 67th-minute goal from forward Ryan Ejezie to advance. Senior Jules Gabbiadini (York, England) led the Eagles with two goals, while junior first-team All-SAC forward Tom Read (London, England) contributed a goal and two assists in the victory over the Tornados.
"It's exciting for us to be back at Rock Hill and be with the top-four teams in the tournament. I think it's going to be difficult; Queens is familiar with the turf facility, they play on it every day, and for us, it's obviously not a familiar surface. They are a team that we beat in the regular season, but they are a team that is on the bounce and winning games," coach Richard Moodie said. "We've got to continue doing what we are doing attacking wise, we've been scoring the goals we've needed to and defensively, we've been able to tighten it up a little and concede less goals. I think we're moving in the right direction with Queens."
Carson-Newman is 3-7-1 in SAC Tournament semifinal contests with their last appearance in the round coming in 2012 and resulted in a 1-0 overtime loss to Lincoln Memorial. The last time the Eagles won a semifinal match was in 2004 with a 2-0 win over the Wingate Bulldogs. C-N won the conference title in 2005, but only advanced past Wingate on penalty kicks. Queens's match on Friday will be the program's second-appearance in the SAC semis since joining the league in 2013 and is 1-0 in the round after knocking off Lincoln Memorial 4-1 in 2013; the Royals won the SAC Tournament during their debut season with a 2-0 win over Anderson.
C-N and Queens have never met in the postseason. The series history is tied at three wins apiece, but the Eagles have won the last three contests. Earlier this season, Gabbiadini and senior Lucas Siqueira (Sao Paulo, Brazil) each tallied a goal as Carson-Newman held off Queens 2-1 at McCown Field; Marc-Kevin Schwenk scored for the Royals in the second half off a penalty kick. C-N outshot Queens 13-10 in the contest.
The SAC All-Conference teams were released by Wedesday. Queens placed three players on the SAC All-Conference teams with forward Corey Brown highlighting the Royals' effort with admission to the first-team; Spot in SAC Championship finals on the line as No. 14 Eagles face Royals; Schwenk and defender Austin Huddy nabbed Honorable Mention accolades. Nine Eagles were named to the various teams with Read, Thibault Mathorez (Graces, France), James Ward (Trine Cornwell, England) and Sindre Welo (Trondheim, Norway) appearing on the first team. Carson-Newman skipper Richard Moodie was named the league's Coach of the Year.
Brown led the Royals with nine goals and 10 assists and was second on the team with 44 shots; Brown's 10 assists ranked second in the regular season, trailing just C-N's Read. Sergio Lemus and Matt Current have split time in goal with each appearing in eight games. Lemus started against the Eaglues in the regular season and recorded four saves and conceded two goals. Current started against Anderson on Tuesday and made four saves.
"I think it will be a good game when the two teams meet. I know an 11 a.m. start is an early one, but we're going to travel tonight, get a good night's rest and hopefully go after them and enjoy the event. It's a good event, already; it's exciting to be a part of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament," Moodie said.
Carson-Newman and Queens kick off at 11 a.m. on Friday morning in Rock Hill with live stats provided by the Wingate Sports Information Department and live video of the contest will be available on the SAC Digital Network.
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