VIDEO: Stephen Lyons Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (2-4-3, 1-2-1 SAC) returns home tomorrow afternoon when it welcomes Mars Hill (4-2-1, 1-2 SAC) to McCown Field for a Senior Day matchup that begins at 3:30 p.m.
Carson-Newman men's soccer will honor four seniors on Saturday. The festivities will be during halftime of the women's game, approximately 1:45 p.m. The Eagles will honor Levi Burdette (Seymour, Tenn.), Paul Csmarich (Vienna, Austria), Federico Simonetti (Crema, Italy) and Daniel Vennesland (Tanager, Norway).
"It's a great group," Carson-Newman men's soccer head coach Stephen Lyons said. "Whether they've been here a year or two or all four, they have been fantastic to work with and always bring a great attitude to training and into the games. All four are good people off the field, which good character is what we look for. Good players and we'll wish them the best as well."
Carson-Newman begins an October stretch where four of its next five games are within the friendly confines of McCown Field. This season, the Eagles are 1-1-2 at home, with the lone loss coming in their most recent home game against Coker three weeks ago. Under Stephen Lyons, C-N is 32-16-11 at home since 2017. Since 1990, Carson-Newman has compiled a 185-88-26 record playing on the banks of Mossy Creek
C-N's defense has been solid at several points in 2024. The Eagles have allowed 17 goals this season but 13 of them have come in three games. The defense has three shutouts this season, all of which have come in the past five games.
The Eagles have their most success when getting off to good starts. Lyons' group has led at halftime in three matches and is 2-0-1. When scoring the first goal, C-N is 2-1-2 and has only lost four times in the past seven seasons when scoring the opening goal.
Mitchell Honcoop leads the offensive attack with a team-high four goals this season. The offense averages 11 shots per match and is the fifth-most accurate team in the SAC, with 48% of its shots on target.
Saturday afternoon's affair will be the 41st time the two programs square off, for a series that dates back to 1989. Carson-Newman holds the 24-10-6 advantage all-time, and currently has an eight-match unbeaten streak against the Lions. C-N's last loss in the series came at McCown Field in 2016, a 3-2 home defeat.
Mars Hill broke up C-N's five-game winning streak in the series securing a 2-2 last September. Thomas De Graaw and Ben Dukes (Southampton, England) scored the game's first two goals in the first 22 minutes. The Lions battled back scoring goals in the 25th and 48th minutes to draw with C-N in 2023.
After a nearly three week break because of Hurricane Helene, Mars Hill returned to action on Wednesday, suffering a 2-1 loss on the road to Wingate. The Lions have lost back-to-back matches after beginning the season 4-0-1. They started the season with a pair of one goal wins over King and Mount Olive, before playing to a 1-1 draw with Lees-McRae. It continued its unbeaten streak to five games with a pair of wins against Newberry and Southern Wesleyan where it combined to score ten goals in the two wins.
Both losses during this losing streak have been by just one goal and have both come in conference play, where the Lions are 1-2 with three points in the league. The one win in league play came versus Newberry on Sept 14, an impressive 7-2 victory.
"Well-organized group," Lyons said. "We know they are going to look to cause problems. Peter (Plougmand) already has nine goals in seven games so we know the threat that he poses. A really solid team that we must be ready and mentally switched on for."
Peter Plougmand leads the third-best scoring offense in the South Atlantic Conference. The forward has a league-best nine goals, which is the ninth-most in the country as well. The offense averages more than 2.5 goals per game, while getting the seventh-most shots on goal in the country.
Three others have scored multiple goals this season. Adrian Faus is one of those players, who also leads Mars Hill with five assists to total nine points this season. Sam Bayly and Carrick Bromage also have two goals each, while Bayly has three assists to his name as well.
Goalkeeper James Price is 4-1-1 in his six starts this season. He is saving just 61% of the shots that come his way, with 11 total saves this year. The Lions are still looking for their first shutout of the season and are allowing nearly 1.5 goals per match.
The match is set for a 3:30 p.m. start. A live stream of the game is available with a subscription to FloSports at cneagles.com/flomsoc.
Fans can also follow along by following @CN_Eagles on X (Twitter) and Instagram for in-game updates.
