MONTGOMERY, Ala. – On a warm and humid day in Montgomery, Alabama, Carson-Newman (2-1-1) played to a scoreless tie with Auburn Montgomery (1-0-3) Wednesday afternoon.
"Thought it was a lackluster performance in the first half for us and we struggled to create any real opportunities," Carson-Newman head coach Stephen Lyons said. "We spoke about a reaction in the second half and the lads improved and were able to create better chances in the final third. We still need to be more clinical in this area but we know collectively we need to get better. AUM is a good team and as we expected, made it difficult for us at times on their home field."
The tie is the first for C-N this season, after recording five ties last season. It is the second straight season C-N has played part of a scoreless tie.
Carson-Newman had its first opportunity in the 12th minute drawing the game's first corner kick but failed to take advantage.
AUM recorded the game's first shot in the 20th minute. Eric Eke sent a shot on frame that forced Federico Simonetti (Crema, Italy) to make a leaping save. The graduate student made a second save late in the first half, on a shot from the top of the penalty box by Luis Fernandes.
The Eagles failed to record a shot in the opening half of play, with AUM outshooting C-N 5-0.
C-N finally got its first shot of the match in the 51st minute. Rhydian Williams (Conwy, Wales) sent a shot toward the bottom right corner of goal forcing a William Blake save.
Simonetti came up with another big stop in the 53rd minute. AUM's Andrew Strait got behind the C-N defense, and fired a shot in the lower left corner that Simonetti made a diving effort to keep out of the back of the net.
Carson-Newman had three corner kicks in less than 60 seconds, but only managed to get one shot, which was blocked.
Things changed in the 60th minute, Eke was shown a second yellow card turning into an automatic red card, giving C-N a player advantage the rest of the way.
Carson-Newman had a great opportunity in the 75th minute, Harry Whitehead (Oxford, England) was on the receiving end of a cross into the box, but the senior had his shot saved by Blake.
Four minutes later, Whitehead tried his hand again, but Blake made another save on the shot toward the center of goal.
C-N managed three more shots attempts in the final seven minutes but could not break the scoreless match.
All eight of Carson-Newman's shot attempts came in the second half. Whitehead and Ben Dukes (Southampton, England) each recorded two shots in the tie.
The Eagles totaled seven corner kicks in the match, their most in a game this season.
C-N's defense recorded its second clean sheet of the season, thanks to Simonetti recording three saves in the match.
Paul Csmarich (Reykgavik, Iceland), Jonas Friedl (Styria, Austria), Bart Schijvenaars (Amsterdam, Netherlands) and Maxime Wester (Brussel, Belgium) each played the full 90 minutes.
Carson-Newman now turns its attention to its SAC opener on Saturday against Wingate. Kick off is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. from the Wingate Soccer Complex.
