August 25, 2021

Silva, Hardenby Öhrwall and Kaarsgaren lead six Eagles in preseason All-SAC honors

ROCK HILL, S.C. – A slew of six Carson-Newman men’s soccer players were announced as preseason All-South Atlantic Conference players by the league on Wednesday with Thaylan Silva, Theo Hardenby Öhrwall and Bram Kaarsgaren netting first-team honors. Harry Whitehead, Nic Carsh and Greg Evans landed on the second team list.

ROCK HILL, S.C. – A slew of six Carson-Newman men's soccer players were announced as preseason All-South Atlantic Conference players by the league on Wednesday with Thaylan Silva, Theo Hardenby Öhrwall and Bram Kaarsgaren netting first-team honors. Harry Whitehead, Nic Carsh and Greg Evans landed on the second team list.

The Eagles join preseason favorite Wingate and Lenoir-Rhyne as the sides with the most players recognized, all represented by six players. This marks the most preseason accolades for the program since seven were named to All-SAC lists heading into the 2010 season. At least two Eagles have made the list every year since 2006.

Of the six Eagles represented, Silva, Öhrwall, Whitehead and Carsh being back 16 of the 21 goals scored by C-N last year with each netting four apiece.

"It's been amazing playing with Theo, Nic and Harry," Silva said. "It just makes it easier for me and coach also gives us so much freedom to move around the field, so we know what each of us has special, something that we can bring to the team. Working through that, it's been amazing and I know we can do amazing things this year too."

Silva is coming off a spring season that saw him become a two-time All-SAC forward after co-leading the team in points for a second straight season with 13, netting four goals and five assists. He was also honored for his work inside the classroom following the 2020-21 season, picking up CoSIDA Academic All-District and Second Team Academic All-American honors, becoming the 14^th All-American in program history and the third academically.

The São Paulo, Brazil native heads into this season with a chance to break into the top five of the program's career assists list. He currently sits in a tie for sixth with 15, just two shy of matching Patrick Olalere who notched 17 from 1991-94. He is knocking on the door of the team's penalty kick lists as well, currently tied for sixth with three attempts and tied for third with three made shots.

Hardenby Öhrwall became just the second Eagle to earn SAC Freshman of the Year status following a debut season where he joined Silva as the team's leading point-getter with a mirrored four goals and five assists. The pair were tied for second among SAC players for points while sharing 45^th for all of Division II.

The Stockholm, Sweden native made a splash in his first year in the Orange and Blue, scoring a pair of goals in his debut match against Belmont Abbey, also crediting an assist to become the first Eagle to account for five points in a single match since 2017. That performance earned him the first Offensive Player of the Week laurel of the year from the league, making him the first C-N freshman to receive the plaudit since it started announcing them in 2006.

Kaarsgaren's second consecutive All-SAC First Team season came with a 7-2-1 record in net, starting in all 10 matches. He kept the second-most clean sheets in the nation with seven, landing him at seventh for the program's single season list and moving him to fourth on the career list with 11.1. He needs six more to move into the top three. He anchored a C-N defensive unit that allowed just four goals throughout the spring, a conference-low for the season, with a 0.40 goals against average that ranked fourth-best among all of Division II.

"Shutouts is always the most important part of the game," Kaarsgaren said. "If you can lay back on a shutout, it's fine. If you score one goal, two goals in a game and you have a shutout, you can't lose a game. Of the returners coming back and the newcomers, especially, we have a really strong defense this year. Hopefully we can improve our shutouts from last year."

The Den Bosch, The Netherlands native was no stranger to the league's Player of the Week honors throughout the spring, landing the plaudit three times throughout the season. He is the second player in team history to do so, moving him to a program-high five in his career.

Whitehead earned his first All-SAC nod in the 2020-21 campaign after making nine starts in 10 appearances. He was one of four Eagles to score four goals on the year, grabbing an assist along the way. The Oxford, England native led the SAC with 40 shot attempts and 19 on goal, totals that landed him at ninth and tied for sixth in all of Division II, respectively.

Carsh earned back-to-back All-SAC second team honors after scoring four goals with two assists and two game-winners. The Newberg, Ore. native grabbed the first multi-goal game of his career during his junior campaign, punching in two in the 3-0 win at Mars Hill on April 1. That outing helped him to the second SAC Offensive Player of the Week accolade of his career.

Rounding out the Eagles on the preseason lists, Evans heads into the year with two All-SAC second team honors throughout his career. He captained the team in the 2020-21 campaign, playing in all but 10 minutes of action in the season. The Wrexham, Wales native heads into this season with 4,853 minutes of playing time to his name in the Orange and Blue, putting him at third in program history. The next Eagle ahead of him on the list is Rurik Pereira with 5,720 from 2012-15.

The Eagles open the season on Thursday, Sept. 2 as Lee comes to town. That match is set to begin at 5 p.m. from McCown Field. All home matches can be watched live courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network at cneagles.com/live.

Men's Soccer 2021 Preseason All-Conference

First Team

F – Sebastian Bertilsson, Mars Hill

F – Felipe Mendonca, Queens

F – Thaylan Silva, Carson-Newman

F – Soren Nygaard, Wingate

MF – Victor Cascon, Lenoir-Rhyne

MF – Mikkel Fahlen Bruun, Wingate

MF – Carles Montoliu lobo, Lenoir-Rhyne

MF – Theo Hardenby Öhrwall, Carson-Newman

D – Owen Marshall, Wingate

D – Niclas Wittur, Wingate