JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn – With three consecutive wins under their belt, the Carson-Newman men's soccer team will be back on their home field on Wednesday for the first time in nearly three weeks and they'll be squaring off with Mars Hill in their second South Atlantic Conference game this year. The scheduled start time for this clash is 7:30pm.
"It feels weird but it's exciting to be at home," Soccer Coach Richard Moodie said. "The boys are excited. The best part is just getting the crowd out to McCown Field. We're looking forward to getting the fans out to support the team."
The Eagles notched their third victory in a row on Saturday, when they dropped Newberry 3-0. That win was also their third straight shutout, the first time the Eagles have put together back-to-back-to-back clean sheets since 2006. Poly Avgousti (Paphos, Cyprus), Tom Read (London, England) and Travis Whitt (Waxhaw, N.C.) were the goal scorers in the win, with Whitt's goal being the first of his career. That also makes three times in the last three games that an Eagles' player has scored his first career goal. Both Collin Hensel (Spring Hill, Tenn.) and Tobias Solem Karlsen (Kongsvinger, Norway) did it against Flagler on September 10th and Samuel Amure (London, England) got on the scoresheet for the first time against USC-Aiken on September 12th.
Read, who also added a pair of assists on Saturday to go with his goal, is currently leading all of Division II with seven assists. His 11 points on the season are also tops in the SAC. The Eagles are tied for the SAC lead in goals with 14, a total matched by Lenoir Rhyne, but they aren't limited in terms of options offensively. While no player has more than two goals, 11 different Eagles have scored in 2016, the same number of goal scorers the team had all of last year. Read, Marius Staalby (Trondheim, Norway) and Steven Parry (Boulogne-Billancourt, France) are the only members of the squad with multiple goals.
Goalkeeper Joe Boyd (Nottingham, England) has gotten his career off to a fantastic start after seizing the starting goalkeeper job as a freshman. Boyd has the second best goals against average in the SAC at 0.60 and his 3 goals allowed are also the second fewest in the conference. Boyd and the C-N back line will be looking for their fourth straight clean sheet on Wednesday.
"When you lose players like Sindre Welo, James Ward and Alexander White and Kavi Luchowa in goal, that's a massive back line [to replace]," Moodie said. "To make the statement that our current players have and to be having shutouts, they look like they've been the back four for the last four years. Our captain, Thibault Mathorez (Graces, France), has been a huge component to our success and we've had a lot of players who've had to step in. Joe Boyd has been fantastic. As a unit, they've done a great job."
Mars Hill's season began with losses to Limestone and King (Tenn.), but they've rebounded to win two of three, including a 3-1 triumph over Catawba on Wednesday. Defenseman Franck Lannaud scored twice in that contest, tying the game and giving his team the lead. Lannaud and sophomore Ian Wu are the only two Lions with multiple goals this year and Mars Hill's total of seven scores has them tied for ninth in the SAC. Their SAC record is 1-1 thus far, with their win over Catawba balanced out by a loss to Wingate last Wednesday.
In goal, new head coach Gary Hamel started the season by playing junior Ben Lucas, but tabbed freshman Kristofer Winnen after his team's 0-2 start. Winnen has responded by posting a .750 save percentage and making 12 saves as he's helped his team win two of three.
The Eagles and Lions will play for the 32nd time on Wednesday evening and Carson-Newman holds a 19-9 edge in the series, with three ties. Last year's match was a dramatic contest, as Mars Hill twice took one goal leads, only to see C-N storm back to win the game with two late tallies. Sindre Welo leveled the score in the 85th minute and Jules Gabbiadini netted the game-winner in the 89th. Last year marked the Eagles first win in the rivalry since 2010.
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