SALISBURY, N.C. – With the score deadlocked at zero for just over 102 minutes, it was a penalty kick from Thaylan Silva (Sao Paulo, Brazil) that allowed No. 13 Carson-Newman to spoil Catawba's senior night with a 1-0 win at the Frock Athletic Complex on Saturday night.
Carson-Newman (10-3-1, 6-1-1 SAC) crosses the double-digit wins threshold with the victory for the first time since 2015 while moving to three-straight wins over Catawba (6-7, 2-5 SAC). The Eagles have now won two of the three overtime matches they have seen this season, the other win coming in 1-0 fashion over then-No. 15 Coker on Oct. 12.
"Very good result for the team today," Carson-Newman coach Stephen Lyons said. "We didn't play our best in spells, but the work rate, attitude and energy from the group was massive. Bram [Kaarsgaren] made some fantastic saves to keep us in it and, collectively, we dug deep in extra time to get over the line. It's nice to have a week off to rest and recover."
The Eagles faced their second-most oppositional shots in the match with the Indians firing 25 throughout the night, 11 of those coming in the second half alone. They were outshot by Catawba in both overtime periods at a combined 5-2 in the nearly 13 minutes of extra time played.
As for Bram Kaarsgaren (Den Bosch, The Netherlands), the Eagles' netminder faced his second-busiest night of the season, saving nine of the 25 shots that came his way to move to 9-3-1. He is now tied for sixth on the program's season wins list and moves into a tie for ninth for career wins. He has accounted for 4.1 shutouts in his debut season.
It was Silva's penalty kick after a foul was whistled in the right portion of the penalty area that set C-N up with the win in the 103rd minute. A slow stutter step to the ball sent Catawba's goalkeeper Luc Denisselle falling right while the ball sailed freely past his left arm and into the back of the net for the golden goal.
THAYLAN. SILVA. BALLGAME.
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CNathletics) October 27, 2019
He lines up for a penalty kick in 103rd minute to seal the deal.
�� @CNmenssoccer 1
�� @CatawbaSoccer 0
FINAL/2OT pic.twitter.com/HbI6mGXTlV
The junior's score was his lone shot on the night and the first penalty kick attempt in his career. Before Friday night, the last Eagle to connect on a penalty kick was Ashley Kelynack on Oct. 6, 2018 against Anderson. Silva now has three goals on the season, tying him for third-most on the team.
For the second time in as many games, Carson-Newman faced a scoreless tie at the half despite sending 10 attempts through the opening 45 minutes to Catawba's three. The Catawba Indians held the shots on goal advantage at the break, 3-4. They had a chance to put C-N up in the 44th minute on what would have been an own goal with the ball pinging around the mouth of the goal before being saved with a deflection out.
The Eagles went into overtime with a 22-20 lead in shooting but trailed in shots on goal, 8-7.
In the first period of extra time, Catawba poured on four shot attempts including one with seconds remaining that was saved off of the foot of Kaarsgaren to send the match into its final overtime session.
Catawba's Tom Savigar had his shot attempt blocked in the 102nd minute, but that was all that the Orange and Blue defense would allow.
Sofian Maghouz (London, England) led all players with seven shots in the contest, a new season-high for him. Kensho Yoshikoshi (Tokyo, Japan) was not far behind with five shots of his own.
The Eagles forced Denisselle to make seven saves throughout the evening, most of those coming in the second half.
Two Catawba players landed in five-shot territory through the match thanks to Tom Savigar and Hunter Faust. Savigar accounted for one shot on goal compared to a team-high three from Faust.
Carson-Newman gets a week away from the pitch before hosting Wingate for Senior Night on Nov. 2. That match is set to begin at 7:30 p.m. Fans who cannot make it to McCown Field can sit back and take in a live broadcast of the match at cneagles.com/live.
