VIDEO: Stephen Lyons Interview
VIDEO: Paul Csmarich Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – After allowing a 13th-minute goal, Carson-Newman (2-1) responded with four consecutive goals to storm past Young Harris (0-2-1) in its home opener, winning 4-1.
"Credit to the guys, a lot of the things we have been working on in training this week, the guys put into effect tonight against a good Young Harris team," Carson-Newman head coach Stephen Lyons said. "I thought defensively without the ball, we put a shift in and that worked. Then, today a big focus we talked about was the quality in the final third and when we had those opportunities the guys took care of it. Great result!"
Carson-Newman improves to 5-2 in home openers under Lyons. He has coached his teams to a 7-2 record now aganist Conference Carolinas teams.
It's the second straight season C-N has won its home opener in comeback fashion. The victory is just the second win aganist Young Harris, ending a three-game losing streak.
Young Harris came out firing early and often. The relentless effort early resulted in a Joel Whittingham goal in the bottom left corner of the net to put the Mountain Lions up 1-0.
But the Eagles had plenty of answers offensively and defensively. C-N tied the match in the 18th minute when a pair of 5th year seniors teamed up. Nic Carsh (Newberg, Ore) found Harry Whitehead who blasted a shot into the top right corner of goal to tie the match. It was career goal number 15 for Whitehead and career assist number 11 for Carsh.
The two teams combined for 23 first half shots, with YHC outshooting C-N 14-9.
Carson-Newman put on an offensive and defensive clinic in the second half. Ben Dukes (Southampton, England) made an excellent run forward and dumped a pass over to Paul Csmarich who scored his first career goal, a goal that would serve as the game-winner in the 58th minute.
"Credit to Paul because he had an injury last year and so for him to bounce back and respond the way he has this year," Lyons said. "We always knew he had quality, but I think it helps that there is quality throughout the group as well. When Paul and the guys put that into effect, good things happen."
The Eagles were just getting hot offensively. An insurance goal came in the 74th minute when Mitchell Honcoop (Nieuw-Vennep, Netherlands) found Thomas De Graauw (Hoofddorp, Netherlands) who scored his first goal with C-N.
C-N's last goal came in the 84th minute. Young Harris pushed everyone forward for a corner kick and did not recover quick enough. Csmarich and Carsh executed a perfect 2 v 1 and Carsh beat the keeper for his 15th career goal and Csmarich's first career assist.
After 14 first half shots, C-N's defense allowed just six Young Harris shots in the final 45 minutes.
Federico Simonetti (Crema, Italy) recorded his second win of the season, making four saves.
Six different Eagles combined for the 18 shots, with four different players recording three shots or more.
Carson-Newman is now 48-1-5 when scoring two goals or more and 2-0 this season when doing so. The Eagles score four goals for the first time since October 13, 2021 in a 4-0 win over Lincoln Memorial.
Young Harris was led by Thomas Kleinpenning who recorded five shots, one on goal. Goalkeeper Stathis Paplomatos made four saves in the match.
Carson-Newman stays at home for its SAC opener Saturday against Anderson. Kick off is set for 7:30 p.m.
