VIDEO: Stephen Lyons Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Despite shooting its second-fewest attempts on the year, goals from Marius Opdahl and Harry Whitehead helped Carson-Newman to a 2-0 win over Shaw on Wednesday afternoon at McCown Field.
This is the third consecutive shutout for Carson-Newman (7-2), extending its winning streak this season to seven in a row. The clean sheet on Shaw (3-5) moves the group to 274 minutes of action without conceding a goal. C-N has now won five straight home matches since falling in the season-opener to Lee on September 2.
"I thought for long spells, we weren't at the races," Carson-Newman coach Stephen Lyons said. "Like you said, the first minute or two, we were pretty shaky and I felt like that set the tone certainly for the first half. By our levels, a poor performance. The guys, we all know it wasn't good enough.
"Had a chat at halftime, thought it did get a little bit better. Still not to where we want to be. We had a couple of moments and we were looking to take the chances when we got them."
Opdahl (Jevnaker, Norway) and Whitehead (Oxford, England) were two of three Eagles to have two-point outings with their goals, being joined by Nic Carsh (Newberg, Ore.) who had an assist on both. Those pair of assists are a new single-match career-high for the senior.
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— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) October 6, 2021
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It took until the 28th minute for Carson-Newman to attempt a shot with a chance from Thaylan Silva (São Paulo, Brazil) saved by Shaw's keeper, Juan Ramirez. By that point, C-N was trailing the shot tally, 2-1.
Just over a minute later, Silva dropped off a pass to Carsh that he sent over to Opdahl, standing near the six-yard box. A quick nudge off his boot went past a falling Ramirez, giving C-N a 1-0 lead.
It was the freshman's third goal of the season and second in as many matches. All of his goals have come off the bench. He is also tied with Silva for the most game-winners among the Eagles this season with two.
"I'm just here to contribute in every way I can," Opdahl said, "and so far it's been off the bench. I'm just happy to contribute in whatever way I can contribute. So far, it's been three goals and coming in."
VIDEO: Marius Opdahl Interview
With the assist, Silva took sole possession of fifth-place on the program's career assist list with 18 since coming to C-N in 2017.
Shaw landed its first shot on goal in the 38th minute with a chance from Yassin Fawzy, but Darrin de Meza (Hoofddorp, The Netherlands) made a sliding save.
Shots were an even 3-3 through the first 45 minutes with C-N holding a 2-1 advantage for shots on goal.
Whitehead headed an attempt in the 66th minute that went high. A second scoring chance came in the 81st minute that connected. Carsh used fancy footwork to get around a defending Bear and slide the ball back to Whitehead. The junior sent a shot toward the lower back corner of the net, evading a falling Ramirez to boost the lead to 2-0.
The goal moves Whitehead to two this season.
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— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) October 6, 2021
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C-N found a strong chance to extend its lead in the 86th minute on a Matheus Maia (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) corner. His shot into the box pinged off of a number of players before Ramirez saved an attempt from Pim Janssens (Venlo, The Netherlands) to end the threat.
The Eagles outshot the Bears by a slim 9-8 margin, dominating the shots on goal 6-2. Those two scoring chances by the Bears are tied for the fewest for C-N opponents this season.
Silva led the Eagles with four shots, three on frame. He is now eighth in program history for career shots on goal with 57. Both Whitehead and Opdahl were next on the list with mirrored outputs of two shots with one on goal.
In net, de Meza picked up the win in his Carson-Newman debut, He made a pair of saves in the shutout.
Both Fawzy and Wissem Obeid led Shaw with three shots and one on frame each. Ramirez was needed for four saves in the loss.
Carson-Newman stays at home this weekend as it gets back to South Atlantic Conference action to host Anderson. Saturday's match is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m. at McCown Field.
