JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Hitting the road for the seventh and final time this year, Carson-Newman (4-3-3, 2-2-2) makes the short trip up to Harrogate to battle Lincoln Memorial (7-2-2, 3-2-1) Wednesday afternoon at the LMU Soccer Complex.
In six road matches this season, Carson-Newman is 1-3-2 but is unbeaten in its last two trips on the road. Under Stephen Lyons, C-N is 25-16-11 in road matches.
The Eagles are tied for seventh with Anderson, both teams are 2-2-2 in league action. C-N trails LMU by two spots and two points and could surge in front with a victory tomorrow.
Carson-Newman is seeking revenge on Lincoln Memorial after suffering a 2-1 loss in Mossy Creek last season. LMU struck first in the 17th minute on a Ronan O'Mahony header off a low cross into the box from Steven Stone. Three minutes later, the Eagles answered. A ball was chipped behind the defense where Harry Whitehead (Oxford, England) ran after it and booted a shot into the back of the net to level the match. LMU responded back six minutes later with a Harry Cooke goal to regain the lead and eventually shutout #11 C-N the rest of the match. LMU's victory was just its second win in the last eight meetings. C-N has dominated the series recently, having won seven of the last ten.
The calling card for Carson-Newman in 2023 has been the defense. C-N's five shutouts are tied for second most in the SAC and top 30 in the country. In five matches this season, Federico Simonetti (Crema, Italy) has the best save percentage (.909), goals against average mark (0.40) and lowest number of goals allowed in the SAC. After allowing five goals against Coker on September 23rd, C-N has responded by allowing just two goals over the last 270:00 minutes of action and zero during the last 222:49 minutes.
The Railsplitters are having another impressive season, posting a 7-2-2 overall record and a 3-2-1 record in SAC play. LMU has won back to back matches, both shutout victories over Mars Hill and Catawba. It began the 2023 campaign on a five-match unbeaten streak, before suffering its first loss of the season to Anderson. LMU's home and away record is the exact same, 3-1-1. In SAC matches at home, Lincoln Memorial is 1-1-1, winning its two most recent.
Daniel Burko is the SAC's leader in goals with 12, ranking third in the country. The sophomore paces the second best offense in the league and a top 30 offense in the country as well. Five of his goals came in a 8-0 rout of King back on September 13th. He has scored five times in league play and has two multi goal conference matches. LMU is 4-0-2 when he scores a goal. Botond Skulka has a team-high five assists, second most in the SAC. 10 different LMU players have scored a goal and 12 have assisted on a goal.
Goalkeeper Daniel Benedek Miklosi has started all eleven games in goal and has five shutouts. His 36 saves are fifth most among keepers in the league. Like C-N, LMU's five clean sheets are tied for second most in the SAC.
Kick off is set for 4:00 p.m. from LMU Soccer Complex. 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.
