Willem Kruijk's game winning goal
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn.- The Carson-Newman men's soccer team used a late surge to take down West Alabama 2-1, in an intense, foul-filled season opener at McCown field.
"Great mentality from the guys," Head Coach Stephen Lyons said. "It kind of got into a pretty high tempo game, we played through it and were the better team."
The Eagles put pressure on West Ala. early and often. C-N put together eight shots in the first half. Three of which were on goal but were all saved by Tigers keeper Harry Deveney.
It was much of the same in the first 22 minutes of the second half, but things intensified in the final 23 minutes of the contest. It started when C-N's Daniel Vennesland was shown a red card for holding UWA's Baronyi Kengeye, as he tried to make a run that would've left him one on one with the goalkeeper. C-N was forced to play with 10 the rest of the way. On the ensuing free kick, nine seconds later, UWA drew a foul in the penalty box, giving the Tigers a penalty kick. Harry Colville put the penalty in the bottom right corner past Eagles goalkeeper Darrin de Meza and West Alabama took the lead 1-0.
Over the next 10 minutes of action, four yellow cards would be handed out. In the 77th minutes, West Alabama committed a foul in its own penalty area, giving C-N a PK of its own. After a brief scuffle and chat with the officials, UWA's Ellis Williamson was given a red card for the foul. The two teams would play the final 13 minutes each with a man down. Senior Jannik Schulte stepped up and drilled the penalty kick into the bottom left corner of the goal to level the game match back up in the 77th minute.
Six minutes later, UWA was on the attack, and scored but was deemed offside by the linesman. The Tigers began celebrating as if they had regained the advantage. C-N realized the advantage and went down the field, less than 30 seconds later. Senior Willem Kruijk made a great run and booted home a shot past Deveney to give the Eagles the advantage in the 83rd minute.
"I saw the keeper was coming out, so I dribbled around and was able to put it in the back of the net, Kruijk said. "It was a great feeling."
Following the Carson-Newman goal, Deveney was given a red card and the Tigers played the final 7:30 with nine players. C-N held on in the final minutes of action to secure the 2-1 come from behind win. It's just the sixth time an Eagles team under Coach Lyons won after conceding the first goal.
"The guys have shown it all preseason that they are able to deal with adversity," Lyons said. "We just felt like we had the quality and that the chances would come. We've practiced it and rehearsed it practice sessions, so the guys were prepared to switch and adjust the formation. We were patient and knew the chances would come and when they do, we've got good players that can convert."
There were more fouls than shots in the season opener for these two teams. C-N had 16 of the 22 shots with 7 shots on goal, while West Alabama's only shot on goal was the penalty kick. The two teams combined for 27 fouls and 17 cards. Two red cards for UWA and one for C-N.
Gustavo Moses Bessa led the Eagles in shots with four in his Eagles debut. Jakob Lechner, Ewan Lynch, Kruijk and Schulte all fired two shots in as well.
De Meza made his second career start and recorded his second career win, playing all 90 minutes. The Eagles begin the year 1-0 and move their focus to Sunday's tilt with Spring Hill.
"We know it's going to be another real tough game, tough test again, Lyons said. "Hopefully everyone recovers properly and is ready to go again Sunday."
Sunday's matchup aganist Spring Hill is set for a 1:00pm kick off from Harvey Stadium.
