September 22, 2018

Karlsen's hat trick leads Eagles to tame Cobras

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – A hat trick from Tobias Solem Karlsen (Kongsvinger, Norway) highlighted the conference home-opener for the Eagles as they took down Coker 4-1 on Saturday afternoon at McCown Field.

Coker

1-3, 0-1 SAC

Carson-Newman

5-1, 2-1 SAC

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

Box Score

Highlights

VIDEO: Stephen Lyons Interview

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – A hat trick from Tobias Solem Karlsen (Kongsvinger, Norway) highlighted the conference home-opener for the Eagles as they took down Coker 4-1 on Saturday afternoon at McCown Field.

All three of Karlsen's goals came in a matter of 29 minutes during the first half of play to help push Carson-Newman (5-1, 2-1 SAC) to its first-ever win over the Cobras (1-3, 0-1 SAC) on the banks of Mossy Creek.

Before Saturday, he had not had a multi-goal game since the season opener at Clayton State where he netted two. His last hat trick came on Oct. 4, 2017 in a 3-0 victory over Lincoln Memorial.

He also moves into sole possession of the fourth-most game-winners in program history with eight. He needs just one more to tie Brad Cobbs (2002-05).

Karlsen for the third goaallll@CNmenssoccer 3@Coker_Cobras 0
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— C-N Athletics (@CNathletics) September 22, 2018

"It's always fun to score a goal," Karlsen mused, "and when you're so fortunate to play that many minutes and be able to get three hat tricks in one and a half seasons, I'll take it. It's just funny."

Karlsen's scoring onslaught started just under the five-minute mark when Greg Evans (Wrexham, Wales) sent a long pass ahead to a waiting Karlsen that he sent into the net from eight yards out to give the Eagles an early lead.

Ashley Kelynack (High Wycombe, England) was credited with the assist on Karlsen's second goal after receiving a deep pass from Tom Rankin (Birmingham, England). Kelynack gained possession of the pass near the right side of the six-yard box before scooting it to the opposite side of the box where Karlsen sent it to the middle of the net right before the 23^rd minute.

"I feel like me and (Kelynack) has a pretty good link up where we kind of when to run and when to not run. If he goes there, I go there," Karlsen said. "And by knowing each other, where we want to run, we can just pass without even looking."

VIDEO: Tobias Solem Karlsen Interview

The hat trick was cemented at the 31:25 mark as the ball deflected off of a Cobra defender following a sailing pass downfield from Daan Smit. Karlsen connected with the back left corner of the net, past a diving Zach Watson to put the Eagles up 3-0.

"We know that he's got goals in him," Lyons said. "The opportunities that he had, he did well and he probably could have had one or two more in the first half, but we worked hard to create the chances."

While the junior did net his third career hat trick in the matchup, head coach Stephen Lyons also stepped into the century mark for career wins, standing at 100 victories during his time with Carson-Newman and Tennessee Wesleyan.

Keepin' it ��!@CNmenssoccer head coach Stephen Lyons has now hit the century mark in wins for his career. pic.twitter.com/WNWMfWBoWr
— C-N Athletics (@CNathletics) September 22, 2018

Joe Taylor (Stockton-On-Tees, England) collected his first goal of the season on a small pass from Kelynack. Despite getting temporarily tangled up with a Cobra, he was able to regain composure and send a shot over the heads of Watson and Steffen Husum to put the Eagles up 4-0 heading into the break.

"I actually thought it was a lot closer than the scoreline reflected," Lyons mentioned. "Coker got a couple of opportunities themselves. We had a few more that we probably could've put away so the scoreline definitely could have been different but the guys took the chances well, went when they came and it was nice to go in with that kind of cushion."

While eight of its 13 shots fell on goal in the afternoon, Coker could only muster one goal in the contest with Cesar Lopez lending a helping hand to Jacob Simonis on a cross that the Cobra forward sent in from a mere few yards out in the 61^st minute.

Simonis led all players on the pitch with nine shots, six landing on frame. Behind him was Karlsen at seven attempts with five falling on goal.

The Eagles formed 11 opportunities to Coker's five for shots in the final 45 but could not get anything to connect. Their charge to the net in the second frame forced five saves by Watson. He made eight on the night with seven landing in the hands of Verweij.

Carson-Newman's keeper notched his 13^th win with 76 career saves. He is now two shy of matching teammate Joe Boyd (Nottingham, England) for the ninth-most career saves in program history.

The win shaved down Coker's lead in the overall series to 4-3-0 since 1990. C-N is now 132-85-17 against the SAC all-time. In home matches against conference opponents, the Eagles are 81-42-6 since 1993.

The homestand continues for Carson-Newman in a week's time when Alabama Huntsville make the jaunt to Jefferson City for a nonconference match. Kickoff on Sept. 29 is set for 5 p.m. A live broadcast will be available at cneagles.com/live for those who cannot make it to McCown Field.

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Morgan Ballard crossed the four-digit dig threshold in the third set as Carson-Newman survived a surge from Coker to take home its first South Atlantic Conference contest of the year 25-21, 25-20, 22-25, 20-25 and 15-8 Saturday afternoon at Holt Fieldhouse.

"We were trying to show our kids that we have to stop worrying about who they are playing," Carson-Newman coach Dave Franklin stated. "Our numbers statistically were fine. We were meeting our standards but in sets three and four [Coker] really stepped up. They had 32 kills between the two sets They were doing good things. We have to address some things defensively to figure out why we keep giving up 18 kills in a set – that's a little extreme. Credit to them. That's a good team. It's just fun to see our kids grow. In the fifth set we owned it and dominated."

Ballard led all players with 39 digs in the match and she stretched her year-plus career total to 1,022. The Weaverville, N.C. native added five assists.

It was the 11th time that the two programs have met as Carson-Newman (5-4, 1-1) leads the series 9-2. In the previous eight wins, Coker (8-4, 0-3) had won just two sets.

There were a pair of early lead changes and with the contest tied at 12, the Eagles reeled off three straight points to gain a pad that it would not relinquish. Winning six of eight, C-N pushed the margin to 22-16 and sustained a late flurry to seal the game on a smash from Marnie Streeter (Goldvein, Va.).

In the second stanza, the two sides were tied 12 times and the lead changed hands on seven occasions. C-N broke a 5-5 deadlock by winning four straight points only to see Coker come back and take several leads. The Cobras held the lead at 17-16 as the home group rattled off four straight to take a three-point lead. Coker never cut the deficit below two as a service ace from Natalie Harris (Monroe, N.C.) sealed the victory.

Coker's offense picked up the pace in third set with a .200 efficiency as Taylor Du Bray racked up five kills. The Cobras held the lead for much of the set flipping a 6-5 deficit into a 9-7 lead. C-N came back to tie the score at 18 but conceded six of the next seven to fall behind by five before a service error salvaged a set for the Cobras.

The offense continued to see an uptick in the fourth as Coker made just two attack errors piling up 18 kills from four players. Olivia Cerick led the charge with six as her side raced out to an 8-1 lead. Chiseling away at the scoreboard, C-N pulled within a deuce at 22-20 only to drop the final three points as Cerick's final smash of the frame set the contest to a fifth set.

In the final game, the Eagles offense took charge pounding out 11 kills and hitting .526 as a unit. At 4-4, C-N won four straight points and eight of nine to expand the bulge to 12-5. Joy Rhodes (Youngsville, N.C.) put the match on ice with her eighth kill of the match.

1,000 C-N digs for @MorganFaith21
✅ Double-double for @oldenburgermeg
✅ Career-high 25 assists for @lenafrances16
✅ @CarsonNewmanVB WIN pic.twitter.com/aubI436Sza
— C-N Athletics (@CNathletics) September 22, 2018

On the day, the Eagles finished with a .224 attack percentage on a season-high 57 kills while registering 86 digs, 12 blocks and seven aces. Coker mustered a .180 hitting clip on 59 smashes with 81 digs, nine aces and seven blocks.

Megan Oldenburger (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) tallied her fourth double-double of the season with 14 kills and 17 digs while hitting .289. Erin Edwards (Midlothian, Va.) and Streeter each had 11 kills as Streeter added six scoops and two blocks.

"That's huge for us compared to last year," Oldenburger said of the depth up front. "We are spread out on the offense in the front row. It's a huge advantage to our side. It helps take the pressure off a couple hitters and let the rest do it."

Elena Vasquez (Riverside, Calif.) matched a career high with 25 assists while picking up eight digs and Taylor Rohr (Windsor, Colo.) had 23 helpers and five digs.

Du Bray and Cerick each had 19 kills on the night with 13 and 18 digs respectively. Lana Strejcek added 14 to the push offensively. Rami Mullen had 45 assists and 17 digs and Kara Overholt finished with 18 scoops.

In a stretch of six games in eight days, the Eagles hit the road to the Palmetto State on Monday to face Newberry at 7 p.m. Stay tuned to @CNathletics on Twitter for the latest information surrounding C-N.