Lads first on the 2014 preseason poll
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman men’s soccer team earned the top spot on this fall’s South Atlantic Conference preseason poll with 114 points and five first place votes.
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman men's soccer team earned the top spot on this fall's South Atlantic Conference preseason poll with 114 points and five first place votes.
"It's always great to earn that respect," Carson-Newman head soccer coach Richard Moodie said. "But at the same time, we're realistic and we know it's a tough job to end up in first place in this conference."
Wingate closely follows the Eagles with six first place votes and 111 points. Last season, C-N opened home play against Wingate and lost 2-1.
The Eagles' Nick Skoda (Knoxville, Tenn.) put C-N up by one in the sixth minute of play. The Bulldogs tied it up with two minutes left in regular time off a free kick when play resumed following a fluke power outage.
Wingate's second goal came with four minutes remaining in double overtime off another free kick following an Eagle injury.
"We're working harder and harder every day," Coach Moodie said. "The attitudes here at practice every morning have been fantastic."
Queens received one first place vote and 105 points landing the Royals in third place.
Last season, C-N hosted the Royals for its senior night. The Eagles defeated Queens 2-1. Nico Noll (Esens, Niedersachsen, Germany) opened scoring in the 21st minute. Queens' Ryan King tied it up late in the second half before Ross Frame (Welshpool, Powys, United Kingdom) put in the game winner in the final minute of regular time.
Lincoln Memorial, Anderson, Coker, Lenoir-Rhyne and Mars Hill in order make up the rest of the top eight teams in the conference poll with 86, 77, 60, 58 and 56 points respectively.
Despite defeating Mars Hill 2-1 in regular season play, the Lions knocked C-N out of the conference tournament in the first round 1-0.
"Right now the focus for us is the conference," Coach Moodie said. "The message that we're sending nationally is that if you finish top two in the our conference, then you stand a chance to be ranked nationally."
The Eagles found redemption in the national tournament when they defeated Anderson 3-2 in the first round Southeast Regional match with goals from Skoda, Frame and Noll. Backup keeper Nick Martin (Russellville, Tenn.) received a win under his name in his starting debut making five saves.
Catawba, Tusculum, Newberry and Brevard follow in order with 48, 42, 19 and 16 points respectively.
"The guys are working hard for each other," Coach Moodie said. "They know what it's all about."
The Lads start back up Sept. 4 at Tampa. The Eagles host King in their first home match at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 17.
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