VIDEO: Stephen Lyons Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (2-6-3, 1-4-1 SAC) battled back in the second half, but #23 Lincoln Memorial (7-2-2, 4-2-1 SAC) had the final say in Wednesday evening's South Atlantic Conference contest, winning 2-1.
"Off the last result, I thought the guys battled back fantastically," Carson-Newman men's soccer head coach Stephen Lyons said. "With the individual mentality as a group with the football we played was excellent. To get that reaction and to face some adversity going down and to get ourselves back into the game. Felt like we deserved something from the game in long spells. Our build up play was really good, probably could have been a tad more efficient in that final third. A lot of positives to take from this."
The Eagles were more of the threat in the opening minutes. Ben Dukes (Southampton, England) fired the game's first shot in the fourth minute after a good passing sequence in the box, but LMU goalkeeper Daniel Benedek Miklosi made the stop.
It was Miklosi making a second stop in the ninth minute. Dukes took aim from distance and had his shot toward the center of goal knocked away.
After Carson-Newman's initial offensive threat, Lincoln Memorial began to pose its threat. After coming up empty on their first five shots, LMU made the most of its sixth opportunity. Quality dribbling from Botond Skulka allowed him to create space at the top of the box and rocket his shot off a C-N defender and into the back of the net to start the scoring in the 36th minute.
Neither side had another shot on target in the opening half, with LMU taking eight of the final eleven shots in the first half.
Carson-Newman played well to start the second half to create opportunities. Lincoln Memorial took the first shot on target in half number two. Skulka's shot toward the bottom left corner was saved by Simonetti in the 52nd minute.
The Eagles' first shot on target came in the 64th minute. Dukes' effort toward the bottom right of goal forced Benedek Miklosi to make a save. Dukes tried again shortly after but Benedek Miklosi was up for the challenge again.
C-N's effort paid off in the 68th minute. Daniel Vennesland (Tanager, Norway) took the ball off the feet of the LMU defender and booted a shot into the bottom right corner of goal to even the tally at one.
Ten minutes later, LMU answered right back. Steven Stone created room in the box and knocked a shot off the inside of the left post to give the Railsplitters the lead back in the 78th minute.
Carson-Newman would have its chances late to find a second equalizer. The Eagles took four shots in the final 11 minutes, none of which went on target.
The Eagles fought to the final whistle. With ten seconds left in the game, Simonetti sent a free kick from midfield into the box, Mitchell Honcoop had a shot from outside the box blocked and a second ball off the deflection went wide right off the foot of Paul Csmarich (Vienna, Austria).
Simonetti made four saves in goal, while Benedek Miklosi recorded five.
LMU held a narrow 13-12 advantage on shots, but C-N had 6-5 shots on goal advantage.
Dukes led Carson-Newman with four shots, while Honcoop recorded three as well. Four different Railsplitters had multiple shots in the contest.
Carson-Newman returns to action on Saturday when it travels to Hickory, North Carolina to battle Lenoir-Rhyne. The match will start at 5:00 p.m. 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.
