WINGATE, N.C. – In a tale of two halves, Carson-Newman (2-2-1, 0-1) was unable to keep up with Wingate (3-2-2, 2-0) offensively, losing its SAC opener 3-1 Saturday evening at the Wingate Soccer Complex.
"We knew how efficient Wingate can be when given opportunities and that was the case in the first half," Carson-Newman head coach Stephen Lyons said. "I thought we responded well after their first goal but again gave up chances that ultimately cost us. In the second half, we were better at limiting their chances but then we needed to be more decisive in the final third."
The loss is just C-N's third road loss in SAC play under Lyons in the past four seasons.
Wingate's Pablo Pozos started the scoring in the 16th minute, off a feed from Dennis Hamzic to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.
Carson-Newman had a quick answer. Six minutes later, Nic Carsh (Newberg, Ore.) found Harry Whitehead (Oxford, England) who fired a shot into the top left corner of goal to level the match at one goal apiece. The Carsh assist was his second of the season and 12th of his career. Whitehead scored his 16th career goal third of the year.
Wingate wasted no time regaining the lead. Tajay Grant found Kosi Mafela two minutes later to put the Bulldogs back ahead 2-1.
Two minutes later, Grant recorded a second assist finding Pozos whose shot found the bottom left corner of goal to extend the lead. It was Pozos' second goal of the half.
There was only one other shot in the final 19 minutes of the opening half.
It was certainly a tale of two halves. Shots came few and far between for Carson-Newman and Wingate as the game played on. The two teams combined for three total shots in the final 45 minutes.
Wingate sent shots high and away from goal in the 49th 57th minutes. C-N recorded its only shot of the second half in the 61st minute off the foot of Maxime Wester who missed high off goal.
C-N was outshot 12-4 and 6-2 on goal. The Eagles did manage to get six corner kicks but could not score off of those opportunities.
Levi Burdette (Seymour, Tenn.) made his first career start in goal and made three saves.
The two clubs combined to receive seven yellow cards.
The Eagles return to action on Wednesday when it welcomes Emory & Henry to McCown field for a 5:00 p.m. start.
The game can be streamed on FloSports with a subscription. Fans can also follow along to @CN_Eagles on Twitter and Instagram for in-game updates.
