October 7, 2019

Five-match road stint commences at Alabama Huntsville

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – A five-match road stint that spans the rest of October lies ahead of Carson-Newman, starting with a trip to Alabama Huntsville on Tuesday evening.

Carson-Newman

7-2-1, 3-1-1

Alabama Huntsville

3-5-0, 1-1-0

Final	1	2	T
Carson-Newman (7-2-1, 3-1-1)	1	1	2
Alabama Huntsville (3-5-0, 1-1-0)	0	1	1

Game Notes (PDF)

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – A five-match road stint that spans the rest of October lies ahead of Carson-Newman, starting with a trip to Alabama Huntsville on Tuesday evening.

Carson-Newman (6-2-1) made the most of its final home match for the month with a 2-1 win over Queens on Saturday.

"I think the guys can draw a lot of confidence from the win," Carson-Newman coach Stephen Lyons said. "Queens were a very good team. We took the lead, they came back, but we showed great character to stay in it and come back to win it. That should give the guys a lot of belief going forward that against any opponent, we've got the ability to get a good result."

The Eagles moved back into the top of the South Atlantic Conference standings with the win, tied with Wingate at 10 points. They head back into non-conference play for the first time since a 3-1 win over King on Sept. 25. C-N has gone 3-1 in nonconference matches this season.

Lyons' group goes against its second Gulf South Conference opponent of the year, the other being Lee who they lost to, 1-0, back on Sept. 14. Against current GSC teams, C-N has gone 9-10-1 all-time, winning two of its last three meetings against the league.

Alabama Huntsville (3-4) has won three of its last four matches on the season, including a 2-1 overtime win over Lincoln Memorial on Oct. 2.

The Chargers have split their two home matches this season. They opened the season with a 2-1 loss to No. 5 Lander on Sept. 6 and obliterated North Georgia on Sept. 20, 6-0.

Second-year coach John Carrier's group was predicted to finish fourth in the GSC this season after a 10-6-2 record last season, 7-3-1 in conference matches. The Chargers knocked out four-time defending GSC champions West Alabama in the conference quarterfinals, 1-0, before falling to West Florida in PKs, 4-2, in the semifinals.

"John has done a good job down there with his team," Lyons said. "We know it's going to be a tough game. They've had a week off so we know they're going to be fresh. We have to make sure that we are ready to go."

Rafa Moreno, a 2018 All-GSC and D2CCA All-South Region pick, leads UAH with four goals and nine points this season. He has tallied a goal in three of the last four games including two in the win over LMU. The junior forward leads the GSC with 36 shots on the year while sitting at second for goals.

The team's 15 goals on the season are the fourth-most in the GSC. It leads the conference in penalty kicks made with three of their four attempts finding the net. The 23 saves the Chargers have made are tied for the fewest in the league. They also lead the GSC in red cards on the year with six.

The Chargers and Eagles have met just nine times since 1993 with five of those contests coming in Huntsville. UAH holds a 3-2 advantage when hosting C-N but the last match played at Charger Park was a dominating 4-0 win for the Orange and Blue. The Eagles found the back of the net three times in the second half with the 14-minute scoring spree starting on an own goal by UAH in the 73rd minute after a corner kick from Tom Read. C-N outshot the Chargers 16-13 in the match, 7-2 for shots on goal.

Last year's meeting between the two sides was a comeback win for C-N, marking the program's 300th program victory. After a scoreless first half, UAH struck first when keeper Myles Fullen sent a long shot downfield that fell in front of Moreno, sending a shot right past the right leg of a diving Twan Verweij to put the Chargers up 1-0. In the 77th minute, Jonny Le Quesne sent a free kick into a crowd in the six-yard box where Kensho Yoshikoshi (Tokyo, Japan) headed in a game-tying goal, his first score of the season. Nearly three minutes later, Ashley Kelynack retrieved a pass from Ben King in the 79th minute to net his second game-winner of the season. It was the first comeback win for Carson-Newman after conceding the first goal during Lyons' tenure.

Tuesday's match is slated to begin at 6 p.m. EDT from Charger Park. UAH will provide live stats and a live stream of the meeting while up-to-the-second updates can be found via @CNathletics on Twitter.