HICKORY, N.C. – Carson-Newman (2-7-3, 1-5-1 SAC) started well on the road. Rhydian Williams scored in the 29th minute but C-N could not maintain its early success, as it fell in a South Atlantic Conference contest to Lenoir Rhyne (5-5, 4-4 SAC) 2-1 on Saturday night at Moretz Sports Athletic Complex.
"The lads deserved something from the game tonight," Carson-Newman men's soccer head coach Stephen Lyons said. "Unfortunately, we cannot control every decision. We were at fault for the first goal, but we shouldn't even be talking about the second. Again, our performance and effort was brillant throughout and the passing and movement for the goal was brillant. Need to bounce back Wednesday now."
After an early shot on target from Lenoir-Rhyne that forced goalkeeper Federico Simonetti (Crema, Italy) to make his first save of the match, C-N dominated the early portion of the game. The Eagles took four of the game's next five shots.
The best chance in that sequence of shots came off the right foot of Antoine Torrent (Clermont ferrand, France.) in the 15th minute. His shot from just outside the box drilled the crossbar and missed high.
Carson-Newman's seventh and final shot of the half ended in its first goal. Isaac Pascal's (Southend-on-Sea, England) dribbling set up the opportunity in the box, where he dished a pass into the middle where Rhydian Williams (Conwy, Wales) controlled and sent a shot toward the lower right side of goal to give the Eagles the 1-0 lead in the 29th minute.
Lenoir-Rhyne would try to quickly respond, but Daniel Martinez's 31st minute shot toward the center part of goal was saved by Simonetti.
The Bears would eventually level things in the 40th minute. Harri Rowe's free kick found the head of Guillermo Garcia to tie the match at a goal apiece at halftime.
The first real chance from either side came in the 67th minute. A perfect cross into the box, set up a chance for Raul Canas in the box. Simonetti made a terrific stop with his feet to keep the match tied at one.
Carson-Newman's first two shots of the half were taken by Daniel Vennesland (Tananger, Norway) in the 63rd minute and Mitchell Honcoop (Nieuw-Vennep, Netherlands) in the 70th minute. Both shots were blocked.
The Eagles continued to put pressure on the LR defense and created their best opportunity of the half. After forcing a turnover, Tim Haans (Tilburg, Netherlands) had a great look from the center of the box but his shot sailed high and over the target in the 77th minute.
Honcoop fired a shot with his left foot in the box but had it blocked again in the 79th minute.
Simonetti was phenomenal once more in the 83rd minute. Canas dribbled his way into the box but his left-footed shot was stopped again.
LR would strike for a go-ahead goal shortly later. A long throw in from Rowe found its way to the six-yard box and David Grifell sneaked a shot into the bottom right corner.
C-N's final chance came in the 89th minute. Haans' shot from distance dinged off the right post and out of play.
The Eagles outshot the Bears 15-11, but LR recorded four more shots on target. It's the third time this season that C-N has outshot its opponent and scored the first goal, but ended up losing the contest.
Williams' goal was his second of the season. The assist from Pascal was his second of the season as well.
The Eagles are back in action on Wednesday when they return home to match up with Newberry. The match will start at 6:30 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.
