September 12, 2025

C-N welcomes Catawba for home and SAC opener

South Atlantic Conference play gets underway on Saturday night as Carson-Newman (0-1-2, 0-0-0 SAC) plays host to Catawba (2-1, 0-0-0 SAC) to open the gates to McCown Field for the first time this fall season.

Catawba

3-1-0, 1-0-0

Carson-Newman

0-2-2, 0-1-0

Final	1	2	T
Catawba (3-1-0, 1-0-0)	2	0	2
Carson-Newman (0-2-2, 0-1-0)	0	1	1

VIDEO: Stephen Lyons Interview

C-N Match Notes (PDF)

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – South Atlantic Conference play gets underway on Saturday night as Carson-Newman (0-1-2, 0-0-0 SAC) plays host to Catawba (2-1, 0-0-0 SAC) to open the gates to McCown Field for the first time this fall season.

Since 1990, the Eagles have gone 19-11-3 in home-opening games. They have won five of their last seven such games by a 17-8 scoring margin.

In South Atlantic Conference matchups, the Eagles have gone 163-100-31 with a 17-15-3 standing in league lid lifters. They are 100-59-14 overall against SAC teams at home, whether in postseason or non-conference schedule matches.

Carson-Newman has tied in back-to-back games for the first time since 2022. The same 1-1 result occurred in consecutive games for the first time since a pair of NCAA Tournament games in November of 2003.

Ben Dukes (Southampton, England) has paced C-N through the first three games of 2025. He scored a goal in each of the first two games and assisted on Mitchell Honcoop's goal on Wednesday against West Alabama. Dukes' five points are tied for second-most in the South Atlantic Conference.

Under head coach Stephen Lyons, Carson-Newman is 5-0-2 against the Indians and is 41-25-16 overall in games against SAC opponents. Despite the quality record recently against Catawba, all seven meetings have been competitive. Six straight matchups have been decided by one goal or less, including nine of the last ten. The past two contests have been ties at 1 and 2.

The 2025 season is a new era for Catawba men's soccer as the program announced the hiring of Alex Morais as the program's 15th head men's soccer coach. Most recently, Morais spent time at Murray State College in Oklahoma, but has also held positions at the University of Charleston, Lincoln Trail College and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

Picked to finish eighth, just ahead of C-N in the South Atlantic Conference men's soccer preseason poll, Morais' Indians are off to a 2-1 start including wins in back-to-back games. North Greenville picked off Catawba in the season opener, but the Indians have rattled off back-to-back wins over Francis Marion and Mount Olive heading into the SAC opener.

The offense has picked up tremendously for Catawba in its last two wins. After being shutout in the season opener, Catawba has scored eight goals in its two wins which includes a five-goal effort versus Mount Olive on Wednesday night. Leading the offensive charge is senior forward Mate Kenyeres. He has back-to-back braces and has seen four of his five shots for the season go in the back of the net. Most impressively, he has yet to play for 40 minutes or more in a match. Giovanni Benericetti is the team leader in assists with three.

"They've got eight goals in three games," Stephen Lyons said. "The new head coach has a fantastic pedigree. I know he is going to have the team set up well. These games are really important to look to get points from it. At home, you want to make it a fortress because you know every game is going to be a battle. Playing at home for the first time this season, we should be ready for it."

Goalkeeper Hector Vara is still looking for his first shutout of the year. He has allowed four goals in three games and has posted a .714 save percentage.

The Indians have an unbeaten streak of four games in SAC road openers, three of which are wins from 2021-23.

First touch is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. from McCown Field. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network is available with a subscription to FloSports at cneagles.com/floMsoc.