Carson-Newman Men’s Soccer Forwards Position Preview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. -- The 2021 campaign begins for Carson-Newman in 17 days as Lee comes to town on September 2 for a 5 p.m. first kick. This is the first part in a three-part series highlighting each of the Carson-Newman men’s soccer positions for the season, starting off the sequence with a look at the forwards with junior Harry Whitehead.
VIDEO: Harry Whitehead Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. -- The 2021 campaign begins for Carson-Newman in 17 days as Lee comes to town on September 2 for a 5 p.m. first kick. This is the first part in a three-part series highlighting each of the Carson-Newman men's soccer positions for the season, starting off the sequence with a look at the forwards with junior Harry Whitehead.
The Oxford, England native is one of seven strikers that make up the C-N unit this season with four of those being returners who saw playing time in the spring, led by All-South Atlantic Conference second-team selections Whitehead and Nic Carsh (Newberg, Ore.). The duo accounted for eight of the team's 21 goals throughout the 2020-21 campaign as two of four players to score four goals. All told, the returning forwards bring back just under half of C-N's goals from the spring with 10.
Whitehead's first conference laurel came after a second consecutive season where he started in all but one of the matches he appeared in, making nine starts last season in his first year at the position after moving up from defender. The junior led the league with 40 shot attempts and 19 landing on frame, landing him at ninth and tied for sixth, respectively, across the board for all of Division II.
"It took us a while to start clicking as a forward group," Whitehead said. "Obviously, I made the transition and then you had Nic, Thay (Silva), Theo (Hardenby Öhrwall), obviously they were playing in their positions, but I thought toward the back end of the season, we started to click a little bit, started to score some goals, and I think really started to play well together. We figured it out eventually."
Carsh scored 10 points in his junior season, the third-most of the Orange and Blue in the season, with four goals and a pair of assists en route to his second straight end-of-league honor. Among all returning players to the squad this season, he holds the second-most career points with 20. He started in all 10 matches for the Eagles on the season, the most starts of his career.
Joining the pair in the crew of returners are Benjamin Stein (Berlin, Germany) and Emmanuel Olaluyi (Manchester, England).
Stein is still in search of his first career start after hitting the pitch for nine of 10 matches in the spring. In his freshman campaign, he found the back of the net twice in shutout wins over Tusculum and Lincoln Memorial in the SAC Tournament quarterfinals. He added on and assist during the campaign for five points.
Much like Stein, Olaluyi went without a start in his debut season but played in four matches, taking three shot attempts with one on goal.
"As a leadership role, I think it's important for us returners just to really like take the younger kids under our wings and just help them showcase what they can actually do for us," Whitehead said. "I think this season will be good for us."
Entering the fold at forward this season are three newcomers to the team.
Marius Opdahl (Jevnaker, Norway) comes to C-N with over 30 goals to his name with Hønefoss BK and Jevnaker IF, scoring 18 in 2017 and 19 in 2019, respectively, for the clubs, adding on six goals for the Jevnaker IF men's team in 2019. Won the 1st Division league title in 2019 with U19s Buskerud.
Pierce Bakkall (Nashville, Tenn.) was an All-District player in 2019 and 2021 at Hume-Fogg Academic Magnet High School, playing with a Blue Knights squad that won the 2019 district title. He scored 25 goals throughout three seasons, leading the team in both of the final two seasons. His senior season came with 14 goals alone.
Quinten Carels (Bruges, Belgium) rounds out the incoming Eagles at the position, previously being the top scorer and grabbing the most assists with previous clubs he has played with. He has been on teams that won the Cup of Flanders and Champions of Flanders.
"This year, obviously with the big newcoming group, there will be players in every position that will be pushing each other," Whitehead said. "We're going to have to be at it every single game because our position isn't safe. I think it's only the best for the group that there is so many players coming back."
The men's soccer position previews continue on Thursday, moving up the pitch with senior Greg Evans to delve into the midfielders.
