October 4, 2013

Eagles return to McCown Field for conference play

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (4-3, 1-2 SAC) comes back home to face conference opponent Lenoir-Rhyne (6-3, 2-1 SAC) Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

The Eagles are coming off a hard 3-2 loss to no.11 Young Harris on Wednesday. "We've got to stay positive," Carson-Newman head soccer coach Richard Moodie said. "The boys were back into practice today working hard and they looked sharp."

Carson-Newman went down by a goal midway through the first half. Eight minutes later, Kristian Speake (Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, United Kingdom) received a ball from Ross Frame (Welshpool, Powys, United Kingdom) and slotted it in back post to tie up the match.

"There are moments that define you as a young man," Moodie said. "We've got to step up and take the opportunities and make the most of those moments because that really is what defines games."

The Mountain Lions suffered a red card ejection in the 32^nd minute and played the remainder of the game a man down. However, three minutes into second half Young Harris was granted a penalty kick to reclaim the lead. They scored again in the 78^th minute to make it 3-1.

The Eagles managed a second goal with eight minutes left in the game when Jake Fielder (Talbot, Tenn.) met a through ball from Frame and slammed it into the left corner of the net for his first goal of the season.

"You win a game, you lose a game," Moodie said. "You just have to turn around and get ready for the next one."

Last Saturday, Carson-Newman won its first conference match 7-1 against Brevard. It was the biggest win in C-N history since 2004. "I thought we had a good showing at Brevard," Moodie said. "We went out and did what we set out to do."

Frame put up two points for the Eagles and an assist. Speake and Sindre Welo (Trondheim, Norway) had two goals apiece while Nico Noll (Esens, Niedersachsen, Germany) had one.

Lenoir-Rhyne has two conference wins against Wingate and Lincoln Memorial, the top two teams from the 2013 SAC preseason poll.

Wingate outshot Lenoir-Rhyne 11 to 4. However, in the 66^th minute, Gabriel Jones scored his first goal of the season to steal the win for L-R.

Lenoir-Rhyne beat LMU 2-1 in overtime. All three goals came late in the second half. In the 85^th minute, Josh Alderson got his first goal on the year to take the lead for L-R but the Railsplitters tied it up 22 seconds later. Seven minutes into overtime, Daniel Delderfield scored the golden goal for the Bears to win the match.

Carson-Newman lost to Wingate 2-1 in double overtime. Nick Skoda (Knoxville, Tenn.) scored five minutes into the match. The Eagles held that lead until the last minute of the match off a free kick when play resumed after a prolonged injury timeout.

In the 116^th minute, the lights on the field went out while Wingate was in possession of the ball. When play resumed, Wingate had a free kick on which they capitalized to win the match.

"We had moments against Young Harris and Wingate where we proved that we're playing with some of the top teams in the nation," Moodie said. "We're right there with the best."

Last year, Carson-Newman tied Lenoir-Rhyne in regular season 1-1. In the 65^th minute, Tobias Tobrant scored his seventh goal of the season off a misplayed ball from a C-N defender. Twenty minutes later, Welo tied it up with a shot that went right over the keeper into the left corner. The Eagles outshot the Bears 30 to 15.

"A lot of people say there is no 'I' in team, and it really genuinely takes a team to win games," Moodie said. "But there are minutes within a game that an individual performance can really set teams apart."

The Eagles faced L-R again in 2012 for the SAC Championship Quarterfinals and won 4-0. Welo put up two goals and an assist. Lucas Siqueira (Sao Paulo, Brazil) got the first goal of the match in the 22^nd minute assisted by Rurik Pereira (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil).

In the 50^th minute, Evan Kelly (Galway, Ireland), since graduated, got a header goal off a corner taken by Welo. Joao Dowsley (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) also had an assist.

"We're happy with the boys, their attitude and their work rate," Moodie said. "We've just got to look forth to Lenoir-Rhyne."

The match can be viewed live at www.cneagles.com/live.