GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – Playing without five starters, Carson-Newman men's soccer (7-4-5, 5-2-4) could not slow down Tusculum (2-7-5, 2-5-4) losing Wednesday night's match 4-1.
"Disappointed doesn't even sum it up," Carson-Newman head coach Stephen Lyons said. "By our standards, we fell short. Our decision making, bravery, winning one v one battles, second balls, all was not good. Tusculum deserved the win; they wanted it more. We must reflect on this game quickly and turn around and play a good Limestone team on Saturday."
Despite the loss, C-N still secured a quarterfinal home match earning the No. 3 seed in the South Atlantic Conference tournament. The Eagles finished in a three-way tie for 3rd with Catawba and Lenoir-Rhyne. C-N holds the tiebreaker between the three teams.
The Eagles will host the No. 6 seed Limestone. The Eagles and the Saints tied back on Sept 7.
It took the offenses some time to get warmed up on a 52-degree night. Tusculum's Luis De La Fuente took the first shot of the match in the 19th minute, but it sailed high. A minute later, Michele Di Miele also sent a shot high.
The Pioneers had the first shot on target. Ignacio Alconchel forced C-N goalkeeper Darin De Meza to make his first save in the 27th minute.
Tusculum had a great opportunity in the 39th minute. After the ball was loose inside the box, TU's Lars Schutrups blasted a shot on the ground that was saved by De Meza's left foot.
The Pioneers finally took advantage of a relentless attack in the 41st minute. Off a corner kick, the ball was loose in the box and TU's Linus Salomonsen sent a shot in the bottom right corner of goal to put Tusculum ahead 1-0.
The Eagles did not record a shot in the first half. It's the first time this season that C-N has been held without a shot in a half this season.
C-N got its first corner kick in the 50th minute but did not record a shot. Tusculum counterattacked and had numbers the other way. Damien Baltide had a one on one with De Meza and chipped the ball into the bottom right corner to put the Pioneers up 2-0.
Following the goal, senior Nic Carsh took C-N's first shot and had it blocked. 30 seconds later, senior Niels Buurman took a shot from outside the box and TU goalkeeper Bruno De Freitas leaped up to make his first save. On the ensuing corner, senior Eric Schmutzer headed a shot nearside that forced another De Freitas save to keep the Eagles off the scoreboard.
With 33 minutes remaining, Adam O'Sullivan received a red card for a collision in TU's attacking third. The Eagles would play the rest of the second half, with a player advantage.
The Eagles would take advantage two minutes later. Freshman Issac Pascal played a through ball to Quinten Carels. The senior took advantage of his one-on-one opportunity with the TU keeper and sent a slow rolling shot into the bottom right corner to cut the Pioneers lead to 1.
The goal was the first of Carels' career. He becomes the thirteenth different player to score for the Eagles this season.
Tusculum had a quick answer. Off another corner kick, Di Miele headed a shot into the back of the net to put the Pioneers up 3-1 in the 66th minute.
Five minutes later, a C-N hand ball in the box gave TU a penalty kick. Alconchel buried the penalty to put the Pioneers up 4-1.
The three-goal deficit was too much for C-N to overcome, as the Eagles fell 4-1. C-N ends the regular season having lost three of its last four matches.
C-N was outshot 20-5 in the match. De Meza made five saves.
The SAC quarterfinal match between the Eagles and the Saints will start at 7:30 p.m. from McCown field on Saturday.
Be certain to follow Carson-Newman athletics on twitter at @cn_eagles for live updates.
The game can be streamed on FloSports with a subscription.
