VIDEO: Carson-Newman vs Tusculum 2023 Game Highlights
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Three points are imperative for Carson-Newman (4-8-3, 3-6-1 SAC) as it heads to Pioneer Field on Wednesday night to battle rival Tusculum (1-10-2, 1-7-2 SAC).
Carson-Newman is in the same position it was heading into the regular season finale this past season against Tusculum. C-N must get three points against TU tomorrow night and root for a Wingate tie or loss against #7 Coker. The Eagles are two points back of Wingate for eighth place in the league standings and own the tiebreaker thanks to a head-to-head win versus the Bulldogs on Oct 26.
Despite coming off a loss on Saturday, C-N enters its final regular season game having won two of its past three contests and has outscored opponents 10-3.
Ben Dukes and Mitchell Honcoop lead the offensive attack with a team-high five goals each this season. The duo ranks tied for seventh among goal scorers in the SAC. Four of Dukes' five goals came in the final week of October. C-N's offense averages 1.67 goals per match, the sixth-highest mark in the SAC. Carson-Newman's 25 goals, 23 assists for 73 points, all rank top five in the league.
Antoine Torrent has a team-high seven assists, which is third-most in the league. He has four assists over his past three games. He is one of seven Eagles with multiple assists this season.
Tusculum has the advantage in the all-time series 19-15-6, but Carson-Newman's had more of the success recently. The Eagles have won four of the past five meetings, headlined by last season's comeback 3-1 win on Senior Day to qualify for the league tournament.
Stephen Lyons' team scored three second-half goals to defeat the Pioneers in 2023, overcoming a 24th minute goal from Gui Busato. Mitchell Honcoop scored off a free kick in the 66th minute to bring the match level. A good passing development between Tim Haans and Daniel Vennesland led to the go-ahead goal just nine minutes later, as Vennesland's shot dinged off the right post and in. Maxime Wester put the finishing touches on C-N's comeback win with an 89th minute goal to seal the win.
Tusculum is 1-10-2 this season and has just five points in South Atlantic Conference play. The Pioneers enter the regular season finale having already been eliminated from postseason play.
TU's only win this season came on Oct 16th, a 5-1 win at Emory & Henry. That contest has been followed by five consecutive losses, all of which have been by two goals or less. Three of the five losses have been against ranked clubs including two against top ten squads.
First-year head coach Kyle Hughes' squad is winless at home, having gone 0-4-2 so far this season. If it fails to win tomorrow, it would be the second time in the past four seasons that the Pioneers have gone winless at home in the regular season. Except for a 6-1 loss to #2 Lynn, the other five home matches have all been decided by two goals or less.
Clarenns Sainrimat is the top goal scorer for the Pioneers this season. The freshman forward leads Tusculum in every offensive category. He has the most goals (4), assists (2), points (10), shots (17) and shots on goal (13).
Freshman goalkeeper Noe Delmotte has 41 saves in 12 appearances this season. He has saved 75 percent of the shots that have come toward goal and has played all 90 minutes in both of TU's clean sheets this season.
The match will start at 7:30 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.
