October 12, 2024

Eagles Surrender Five Unanswered After Opening Score, Fall to Mars Hill

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Despite striking first, Carson-Newman (2-5-3, 1-3-1 SAC) let up five unanswered to Mars Hill (5-2-1, 2-2-0 SAC), falling 5-1.

Mars Hill

5-2-1, 2-2 SAC

Carson-Newman

2-5-3, 1-3-1 SAC

Final	1	2	T
Mars Hill (5-2-1, 2-2 SAC)	2	3	5
Carson-Newman (2-5-3, 1-3-1 SAC)	1	0	1

VIDEO: Stephen Lyons Interview

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Despite striking first, Carson-Newman (2-5-3, 1-3-1 SAC) let up five unanswered to Mars Hill (5-2-1, 2-2-0 SAC), falling 5-1.

"We had too many individual mistakes," head coach Stephen Lyons said. "Little breakdowns, switching off… It will have to change if we want to turn around this season."

The Eagles struck first in the first half, as Ben Dukes (Southampton, England) shook loose at the top of the box for a left-footed strike into the back of the net in the 21^st minute.

"It was a good combination to get Dukes into a good position to score," Lyons said. "It was a nice finish, and I felt like we had the momentum at that point."

The Mountain Lions quickly answered, with the SAC's top goal scorer, Peter Plougmand, finding the back of the net for the first of three times in the 29^th minute. Plougmand would add to his league-leading total less than six minutes later, tallying his second goal of the afternoon in the 35^th minute to extend the Mars Hill lead.

"We knew what kind of threat he was," Lyons said. "We knew he was a handful, and when he gets opportunities in the box, he is pretty ruthless… The way we defended him and allowed the balls into him are the areas we need to fix because we know that when good players get good opportunities, any team in the SAC will take them."

After the halftime break, Plougmand capped off his hat trick, extending the Mars Hill lead to two in the 46^th minute. He added an assist on the next Lions' goal, coming in the 50^th minute off the foot of Adrian Faus. Mars Hill finished its scoring effort with a 68^th-minute goal from Nolan McMillen.

Despite the loss, C-N outshot Mars Hill and produced more corner kick opportunities, but the quality and efficiency of the Lions' attack was the difference.

The loss to Mars Hill marks the second consecutive defeat in which C-N has surrendered five goals. With another tough conference opponent coming to town on Wednesday, Lyons knows that C-N needs to shore up things defensively and in the attacking third.

"There's a lot of work to do," Lyons said. "Collectively, we've got to go in and draw from it what we can… Not just defensively, but in the final third, we've got to be better at executing and decision-making."

The Eagles are back in action on Wednesday, welcoming in-state conference opponent Lincoln Memorial to McCown Field at 5 PM.

For updates throughout the men's soccer season, visit cneagles.com and follow us on social media @cn_eagles.