NEWBERRY, S.C. – Despite a multitude of opportunities taken throughout the afternoon, Carson-Newman and Newberry needed two overtime periods to determine a 2-2 draw on Wednesday at the Smith Road Soccer Complex.
This is the third draw that Carson-Newman (7-4-3, 3-3-3 South Atlantic Conference) has faced this season, all three coming in the month of October. The tie stalls C-N's winning streak over Newberry to 17-straight but keeps it without a loss to Newberry (3-10-3, 2-5-2 SAC) in their 26 meetings with the overall series with a staggering 24-0-2 record.
The last time a match between the two sides resulted in a tie was also a 2-2 decision at Newberry.
"Another conference game we should have won given the performance and opportunities we created," coach Stephen Lyons said. "Great effort and long spells of quality possession, but we needed to show more quality in the final third and cut out the basic errors. I have said it before but if we can do that, we have shown we can compete with the top teams."
Andrew Gallagher got Newberry on the board in the second minute after a pass from Eric Brody. He sent a shot from nearly 20 yards out past C-N's goalkeeper Twan Verweij (Utrecht, Netherlands) to give the Wolves a 1-0 lead. It was the only shot on goal the Wolves landed in the first 45 minutes.
His goal marked the quickest goal scored against the Eagles this season, besting the ninth minute goal from Wingate's Stuart Hendry on Oct. 20.
This was also the third-straight match in which Carson-Newman conceded the first goal.
Carson-Newman retaliated in the 22nd minute as a sequence just outside the 18-yard box ended up in possession of Joe Taylor (Stockton-On-Tees, England). From the left side of the box, he sent a shot that hit a Newberry defender before rolling into the net after a deflected rebound to equalize the game at one.
The goal was the second of the season for the senior and the third of his career.
Taylor had already hit his career-high for shots with four at the half, leading all players on the pitch. He concluded the day with five shots.
For the sixth time this season, C-N faced a tied game heading into the halftime. Since its Sept. 29 win over Alabama Huntsville, Carson-Newman has still yet to see a win in matches that were tied at the half, going 0-1-2 since then in such matches.
In the 81st minute, a foul on Carson-Newman gave Newberry a set piece from 20 yards out. Troy Paul lined up for the successful attempt to put the Wolves up 2-1.
The Eagles would not go down quietly as Jonny Le Quesne (Jersey, Channel Islands) connected with Tobias Solem Karlsen (Kongsvinger, Norway) in the 84th minute to tie the game at two. Karlsen's goal was the latest goal scored by the Eagles this season, topping the goal he scored against Clayton State on Sept. 1 by just 40 seconds.
His goal marked a team-high seventh goal of the season and the 19th of his career. Between Karlsen and Le Quesne, it was the third time this season the tandem had produced a goal.
Through both overtime periods, Carson-Newman maintained a heavy defensive presence, holding the Wolves to just two total shots in the two frames compared to a combined nine shots from the Eagles.
Verweij, C-N's netminder, moved into eighth in program history for career saves thanks to his five grabs on the day. He now has 103 in his two seasons with the Eagles. He needs 24 more to reach Kavi Luchowa at seventh with 127 from 2012 to 2015.
On the other side of the pitch, Dixon had a busy night in front of the net for the Wolves, snagging nine of the 11 shots he faced on the day, the third-most needed by a C-N opponent this season.
Carson-Newman sent out its second-highest number of shots on the season with 30. Newberry was only able to counter with 17 of its own.
Karlsen was the leading shot taker of all players on the pitch with seven, matching his season-high that he set against Coker on Sept. 22. Of his seven shots, two landed on goal. He now has 42 shots on goal in his career, putting him two away from tying Jussi Wooler at ninth in program history with 44 between 2003 and 2006.
Fabrizio Bucco led the Wolves with six shots. Two of his attempts landed on frame.
C-N was awarded 10 corners in the match compared to four from Newberry. This was the third time this season the Eagles took double-digit corners.
The Eagles return home one final time during the regular season for a senior night showdown with the Catawba College Catawba Indians. That match is slated to begin Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Fans who cannot make it to McCown Field for the regular season finale can view a live broadcast courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network on cneagles.com/live.
