JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The final regular season match of the season for Carson-Newman (4-6-5, 2-5-3) is the most meaningful one, as Tusculum (8-4-3, 3-4-3) ventures down on C-N's Senior Day.
A South Atlantic Conference Tournament berth is at stake when Carson-Newman and Tusculum battle in the regular season finale. For C-N to make the tournament, the Eagles must defeat the Pioneers and hope for a Mars Hill draw or loss to nationally ranked Limestone. C-N knocking off TU would eliminate the Pioneers from postseason play. For TU, a win makes the tournament. A draw in this match would also have TU rooting for a Mars Hill tie or loss to Limestone. Both matches that will help decide the 8 seed in the SAC tournament begin at 5:00 p.m.
Carson-Newman's last win in the month of November came in the 2015 season, a 4-0 win over Brevard in the SAC quarterfinals. The last regular season November victory came the year prior, a 2-1 win over Anderson. The Eagles are 0-3-3 under Stephen Lyons in November matches.
After going unbeaten in its first five home matches of the season, C-N has dropped back-to-back home games and has been held scoreless in both meetings as well.
The Eagles will be out for some revenge when the Pioneers invade Mossy Creek. In last season's regular season finale, TU got the better of C-N winning 4-1 in Greeneville. Prior to that matchup, Carson-Newman had won three games in a row in the series and held Tusculum scoreless in those three meetings as well. Wednesday's match will be the sixth time in the last 20 meetings that the two rivals will square off in the month of November.
Carson-Newman will honor four seniors on Senior day, Harry Baggaley (Stoke-on-Trent, England), Nic Carsh (Newberg, Ore.), Thomas De Graauw (Hoofddorp, Netherlands), and Harry Whitehead (Oxford, England). Carsh and Whitehead are amid their fifth seasons along the banks of Mossy Creek. The duo has combined for 34 goals and 19 assists in a combined 128 games played.
Tusculum enters the match winners of three of its last four games and only suffered one loss in the month of October. The Pioneers have faced three ranked SAC foes and have gone 1-1-1 in those matches. TU is 8-4-3 and 3-4-3 in league play.
Former Carson-Newman head coach Allen Vital leads the Pioneers against his former club. He is 16th among active coaches in career wins with 256. 166 of those victories came with Carson-Newman in the 14 seasons as the Eagles head coach. His final season was 2010, before heading up the road to lead the Pioneers.
His son, J-P Vital is the team's leader in goals scored with six. He scored both goals in a 2-1 win over Concord last time out. Freshman Artur Marques has five goals and two assists while Pedro Concheso has three goals and three assists. GK Nicolas Leite has allowed just the third fewest goals (10) in the SAC and is second in the league with a .833 save percentage and 0.85 goals against average mark. As a team, TU has six shutouts in 15 games.
Kick off from McCown Field is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. 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.
