JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (1-0-0) eyes a road sweep to begin 2023 when it battles Spring Hill (0-1-0) tomorrow afternoon in Mobile, Alabama.
If C-N can complete the road sweep to begin 2023, it would the first team since 2013 that the Eagles won their first two road games. That season, C-N finished 9-3 on the road and advanced all the way to the DII National Championship game.
"Spring Hill may have a different look, there are quite a bit of new players on that team," Carson-Newman head coach Stephen Lyons said. "It will be another good challenge for the guys and an adjustment from playing SHC last year."
C-N took last year's first ever meeting 5-3 in Mossy Creek. The Eagles allowed two goals in the first ten minutes of the match, but stormed back to score four times before halftime to control the match 4-2. The Badgers got back within one, with a 50th minute goal, but C-N held strong defensively and got an insurance goal in the 81st minute to win the high-scoring affair 5-3. Goalkeeper Eric Thust and forward Nic Carsh (Newberg, Ore) are the only two Eagles that played in last year's meeting. Carsh recorded two goals in the win.
The Eagles opened 2023 with a 2-0 shutout win over West Alabama yesterday afternoon. Under Lyons, the Eagles are now 6-0-1 in season openers and have won 10 of their last 11 openers.
Nine different players made their C-N debut, with six making their collegiate debut.
Six different Eagles played all 90 minutes in the season opening win.
Spring Hill began its 2023 season with a 2-0 home loss to Lynn yesterday. The Badgers allowed one goal in each half in the season opening loss.
SHC managed just five shots in the match, led by substiute Rutger Hesselink who recorded two of them.
19 different players saw time on the pitch aganist Lynn. Goalkeeper Martin Gomez finished the game with seven saves.
Spring Hill was picked to finish 8th in the Gulf South Conference preseason poll. The Badgers did not have a player on the GSC preseason all-conference teams.
Saturday's meeting between Spring Hill and Carson-Newman will be just the second time the two schools meet and the only time SHC will face a team from the South Atlantic Conference this season.
C-N has a 6-4-1 record aganist teams from the Gulf South Conference under Lyons.
A win on Saturday would give C-N a 2-0 start for the second straight season and a fourth time under the direction of Stephen Lyons.
Saturday's match kicks off at 1:00 p.m. A live stream of the match is available at this link: https://www.youtube.com/@SHCBADGERS/streams
As always fans can follow along to @CN_Eagles on Twitter and Instagram for in-game updates.
