VIDEO: Stephen Lyons Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – For the third time in the last four years, Carson-Newman men's soccer will begin its 2024 campaign at home, welcoming Trevecca Nazarene to McCown Field for a 3:00 p.m. contest tomorrow afternoon.
"All the guys are excited to get going," Carson-Newman men's soccer head coach Stephen Lyons said. "I don't know as much about Trevecca, not having faced them since I've coached here. Looking to get off to a good start. Hopefully we can add another season-opening win tomorrow."
Since Lyons took over Carson-Newman's men's soccer program in 2017, his teams have gone an impressive 6-1 in season openers including wins in 10 of their last 11 openers. The Eagles have kicked off the last two seasons with wins over West Alabama.
Carson-Newman has been picked to finish eighth in the South Atlantic Conference Preseason Coaches' poll. The Eagles went 5-7-5 last season, matching the program's mark for most ties in a single season. 17 players return from a team that had four losses that were decided by just one goal. In the 17 games played, 12 of them were decided by one goal or less. Surprisingly, C-N was 5-4-3 when allowing just one goal or less.
C-N returns 17 players, but does not return two of its top three goals scorers from this past season which does include losing top assist men Thomas De Graaw.
Ben Dukes led the way for C-N on the preseason all-conference teams, named to the first team. Mitchell Honcoop and Maxime Wester earned spots on second-team while graduate student goalkeeper Federico Simonetti earned preseason third-team honors.
The Eagles and Trojans will clash for just the second time ever on Thursday afternoon. Carson-Newman won the only meeting in the series 7-0 in Nashville back on Sept 14, 2014. C-N scored six first half goals including two in the first seven minutes to run away from the Trojans.
Competing in the Gulf South Conference for the first time, Trevecca Nazarene was picked to finish 11th in the league. The league change comes after spending its first 11 year in NCAA Division II athletics, as a charter member of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.
The Trojans are coming off a 5-10-2 season, going 4-8-2 in conference games. Since moving to NCAA DII in 2011, Trevecca Nazarene has only managed one winning season, having had multiple years at .500.
Head coach Daniel Leavy returns for his 16th season as head coach, seeing the Trojans transition leagues for the second time. He has a 83-122-11 overall record and a 48-76-5 record in conference games.
Ian Aviles, Tom Hooper and Daniel Shiel were all named to the GSC men's soccer newcomer watchlist. This trio will look to replace top goal scorer Marlon Grossmann who scored nine times in 2023.
The match is set for a 3:00 p.m. start. A video stream is available with a subscription to FloSports at cneagles.com/floFC.
