October 23, 2021

Martin, Silva shine in senior day crush of Cobras

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. -- Carson-Newman overcame an early Coker lead with senior day goals from Gabe Martin and Thaylan Silva to take down the Cobras, 3-1, on Saturday at McCown Field.

Coker

10-4-1, 5-4 SAC

Carson-Newman

10-3, 8-1 SAC

Final	1	2	T
Coker (10-4-1, 5-4 SAC)	1	0	1
Carson-Newman (10-3, 8-1 SAC)	1	2	3

VIDEO: Highlights

VIDEO: Stephen Lyons Interview

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. -- Carson-Newman overcame an early Coker lead with senior day goals from Gabe Martin and Thaylan Silva to take down the Cobras, 3-1, on Saturday at McCown Field.

"Well, I think we were kind of lucky going into the half at 1-1, to be honest," Lyons said. "We knew it wasn't our best 45 minutes. Towards the end of the first half, we did start to play better. We talked at halftime about a few things and the guys came out and executed it fantastically in a very good second half performance."

Both seniors accounted for five of the team's 10 points in the victory as Carson-Newman (10-3, 8-1) netted at least three goals for a third straight match. Martin (Corrryton, Tenn.) scored the first goal of his career and Silva (São Paulo, Brazil) scored a brace for a third straight outing, both of his goals coming in the second half. Silva's game-winner moves him to four on the year and seven in his career, tying him for seventh-most in program history.

Happy senior day, @gabe_martin1!

He heads in his first career goal to equalize.

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— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) October 23, 2021

This is the third consecutive win on the season for Carson-Newman, giving it the second double-digit wins season since Stephen Lyons took the helm in 2017. It is the 16th time in program history that the team has hit the 10-win mark, the last being in 2019 when the team went 10-4-3.

C-N has gone back-to-back with senior day wins, leaving the pitch victorious in three of the last four. The latest victory evens the series with Coker (10-4-1, 5-4) at 5-5 with C-N cutting the deficit in home matches to 2-3.

Coker jumped on the first lead of the contest in the 23rd minute on a no-look backward heel shot from Jacques Fokam-Sandeu after a pass in from Gabin Guillo.

The goal marked the third time this season that C-N conceded the first goal.

Carson-Newman got a goal back in the 39th minute in true senior day fashion. A free kick sailed into the box with a Cobra toeing a look toward the crossbar before coming down to bounce off the toe of a leaping Nic Carsh (Newberg, Ore.). Martin was at the right place at the right time, heading the ball in directly in front of the left post to tie it up, 1-1.

"I mean, it was great to get my first goal and all," Martin said, "but it just feels so much better to help the team get that win, especially coming close to the end of the season. You just, when a win is all you're looking for and no matter how you can get it, it was just good to help with that."

VIDEO: Gabe Martin Interview

Lyons' group faced its sixth halftime stalemate the year, trailing the shot tally 8-6 at the break. Once second-half action began, Silva needed just six and a half minutes to put the Eagles ahead.

A throw-in went to an open Tim Vercelli (Münster, Germany) that he lobbed over to Harry Whitehead (Oxford, England). The junior quickly popped the ball to a charging Silva that he sent into the back right corner from right in front of the goal to give C-N a 2-1 advantage.

In the 78th minute, Silva cemented a third straight brace with help from the first goal-scorer of the day. Martin sent a long clearance from beyond the midfield line that found a wide-open Silva near the top of the 18-yard box. The senior went one-on-one with Coker keeper Jasper Rump nearly 10 yard out from the net, sending a look soaring through the pipes for a 3-1 lead.

Three straight matches with a brace?

Just Thaylan Silva things

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— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) October 23, 2021

C-N played the final 10 minutes of the match with a man-up advantage after a red card was shown to Bastiaan Jager after a collision with Whitehead. It marks the second time this season that C-N won a match with a player advantage, the last time being against Erskine on September 8.

The Eagles dominated possession in the second half to finish with a 16-14 shot advantage, 8-7 on frame. Silva led the Eagles with five shot attempts, three of those on goal. He now has four multiple-goal games to his ledger this season. Whitehead and Carsh were right behind him with three shots each.

Playing in all 90 minutes on his senior day, captain Greg Evans took over the program's top spot for career minutes played, now sitting at 6,014 in his time with the Eagles. He was one of five Eagles to log a single shot attempt on the day.

Bram Kaarsgaren (Den Bosch, The Netherlands) picked up his ninth win of the year in goal. With the start, he is now tied for fourth-most for keepers in program history. He made six saves.

Fokam-Sandeu and Gabin Guillou led Coker with four shot attempts, landing two and four on frame, respectively. Rump was called upon for five saves.

Carson-Newman takes another week-long layoff until it welcomes No. 11 Limestone to the banks of Mossy Creek. That match is set for October 30 with a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.