C-N eyes to extend winning streak as Anderson visits Mossy Creek
October 8, 2021

C-N eyes to extend winning streak as Anderson visits Mossy Creek

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman sets its sights on matching the program’s longest South Atlantic Conference winning streak as it jumps back into league action on Saturday when Anderson comes to McCown Field for a 7:30 p.m. contest.

Match Notes (PDF)

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman sets its sights on matching the program's longest South Atlantic Conference winning streak as it jumps back into league action on Saturday when Anderson comes to McCown Field for a 7:30 p.m. contest.

A win would push Carson-Newman (7-2, 5-0) to its 11th SAC win in a row spanning this season and the 2020-21 campaign, a string that it last saw between the 2009-2010 seasons. C-N has won a SAC-best seven consecutive matches this season. Still undefeated in conference action with 15 points and tied for the top spot on the league table with No. 12 Limestone, C-N also has a chance to match its best start in the SAC since the 2010 season when it won its first six matches.

The Eagles come into the match with three straight shutout wins, tied for third-most in the conference. Including those wins, they have gone 279:44 minutes of match play without conceding a goal. The last goal to get past the Eagles' defensive unit was from Catawba's Tom Savigar in the 86th minute of a 2-1 C-N win. This is the longest streak of shutouts for the team since recording six in a row during the 2020-21 spring season. The longest string in program history was eight during the 2017 campaign when the team drew a scoreless tie before rattling off seven winning shutouts.

Potential movements in the program record book lie ahead of the Eagles in Saturday's match. Logging 5,669 minutes of play in his career with 18 consecutive full-time matches, Greg Evans (Wrexham, Wales) is 52 minutes away from overtaking Rurik Pereira for the second-most minutes played, taking to the pitch for 5,720 minutes from 2012-15. His next start will give him sole possession of the fourth-most starts in program history, currently with 64.

Thaylan Silva (São Paulo, Brazil) still leads C-N with 13 points on five goals and three assists along with a pair of game-winners, putting him and Marius Opdahl (Jevnaker, Norway) in a tie for second in the league. He has landed 14 of his 25 shot attempts on goal, good enough for fifth and sixth in the SAC, respectively.

The 18th meeting between Carson-Newman and Anderson (6-2-1, 3-2-1) sees both sides come in with three consecutive winning clean sheets to their name. Combined, they are outscoring opponents 12-0 as C-N has scored four unanswered and Anderson scoring eight.

Carson-Newman has dominated matches played at McCown Field during the series, holding a 6-0-1 record at home. The only non-win being the 1-1 result on Oct. 6, 2018. Overall, the teams are on a two-match draw skid in meetings. C-N holds a 54-20 scoring advantage in the series history. C-N set a program record for goals and points scored in a match with a 15-0 victory on Sept. 30, 2000 that brought in 40 points. Nine Eagles scored that day, including hat tricks for Oskar Garnes and Alexander Kongshaug, with 10 assists awarded.

The teams over two years removed from their last meeting on Sept. 28, 2019 which ended in a 1-1 draw. C-N landed 12 of its 27 shots on goal in the tie, holding Anderson to nine shot attempts. In the 12th minute, Tobias Solem Karlsen maneuvered a ball away from multiple Trojan defenders before crossing over to Harrison Collins. A cross back off of the side of his foot gave Solem Karlsen the chance to break into a one-on-one with Anderson's Gal Elyashiv. The forward sent a sliding strike past Elyashiv to put the Eagles up 1-0. Anderson equalized in the 60th minute when Harry Ward picked up a pass from Colin Burris and sent a shot over a sliding save attempt from C-N's goalkeeper Bram Kaarsgaren (Den Bosch, The Netherlands). He made just one save throughout the entire match compared to the 11 the Eagles pressured Elyashiv to make.

Anderson's last time out on the pitch was a 4-0 win on Wednesday over Erskine with four different Trojans scoring goals in the victory. It currently sits at third in the South Atlantic Conference standings with 10 points.

This is the first road match for eighth-year head coach Michael Zion's group since September 18 when they drew with Catawba, 1-1. They are 1-1-1 when playing away from Anderson, S.C. The last road win for the group was a 3-2 victory at Mount Olive in the season-opener on September 8. Anderson's last road win in SAC contests was on April 1 with a 4-2 result at Newberry.

Four of Anderson's five All-SAC picks from last season are back this season, including second-teamers Alexandre Cox-Ashwood and Harry Ward and honorable mentions Agustin Ortiz and Andres Osorio.

Cox-Ashwood leads the Trojans in scoring with 18 points on eight goals and two assists. His three game-winners this season lead the SAC and are tied for fifth in the nation.

Ortiz joins Cox-Ashwood as the group's leaders with 10 shots on goal each. His 24 shot attempts are the most on the team, averaging 2.67 per match, landing him at eighth in the league.

Gal Elyashiv and Neko Crist have split time in net this season with 4-2-1 and 2-0 records, respectively. Elyashiv has accounted for two of the team's three shutouts, good enough for third in the league. He has a 1.59 goals against average and is making saves at a .571 clip, tied for second-lowest in the SAC, with 16 saves.

Anderson has been whistled for a league-high 9.22 fouls per game, placing it at 23rd in the nation. It is the league's third-best goal-scoring team with 21 goals and the second-best scoring offense at 2.33. The team averages 13.7 shots per game, attempting 123 on the year.

Saturday's match between the Eagles and Trojans can be streamed globally at cneagles.com/live with up-to-the-minute tweets coming from @CN_Eagles on Twitter.

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