Bounce-back minded C-N heads to Harrogate
Carson-Newman (1-7-3, 1-4-1 SAC) plays its penultimate road game of the 2025 regular season when it visits Lincoln Memorial (4-7-1, 4-2-1 SAC) tomorrow evening at 7:00 p.m.
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (1-7-3, 1-4-1 SAC) plays its penultimate road game of the 2025 regular season when it visits Lincoln Memorial (4-7-1, 4-2-1 SAC) tomorrow evening at 7:00 p.m.
Carson-Newman heads back on the road where it is 1-3-3 this season. Despite that record, C-N is unbeaten in its two most recent road trips, tying Mars Hill last time and defeating Newberry to end September. Two of its three road losses are by one goal.
Despite suffering a three-goal loss this past weekend, Carson-Newman still controls its chances to qualify for the South Atlantic Conference tournament and make a late push up the league table. The Eagles have four points, but fifth-place Wingate only has eight points. Teams slotted 5-11 in the SAC standings are all within four points of one another. The top eight teams qualify for the conference tournament.
Mitchell Honcoop has been one of the best goal scorers in the South Atlantic Conference this season. The All-SAC midfielder has five goals this season, tied with several players for the second-most in the league this season. The Dutchmen is up to 12 goals in his career, tied for most among active Eagles. Four of his five goals this season have come in back to back games, having scored in consecutive games now three times in his career.
Junior goalkeeper Elijah Buford has 39 stops in 11 games this season, that is good for the third-most in the SAC. That mark also ranks top 60 nationally. Despite those rankings, Buford and C-N are still looking for their first clean sheet this season.
Carson-Newman has four players that have started all 11 games this season in Dan Coles, Ben Dukes, Isaac Pascal and Maxime Wester, but none more reliable than Coles. The junior is the only Eagle that has not left the field in 11 games, playing the full 990 minutes possible this season.
The Eagles will be hoping to snap a winless streak not just in conference play, but also against the Railsplitters. LMU has won the past three meetings each of the past three years by exactly one goal. Prior to this recent LMU winning streak, C-N had won six of the prior seven meetings. The Railsplitters hold the slight edge in the all-time series 19-18-3
Lincoln Memorial is not one of those SAC schools that is jumbled 5-11 in the league table, it is fourth-place and has played very well in league games this season. The Railsplitters are only 4-7-1 overall, but all four wins are in SAC games after going 0-5 in non-conference play. Three of their four conference wins are shutouts versus Lenoir-Rhyne, Newberry and Mars Hill most recently. LMU's other league win was a 3-2 rally against #13 Catawba back in September.
The month of October has been shaky for head coach Tom Gillette's team. Their only two league losses came in consecutive games to begin the month, road losses to Tusculum and Wingate by one goal. The Railsplitters enter Wednesday's match having won two of their past three games. At home this season, LMU is 2-2-1 with both losses in Harrogate coming in non-conference play.
The Railsplitters stand out defensively, and it starts with their junior goalkeeper Daniel Benedek Miklosi. All three of his shutouts this season are in league games with two of those coming in the last three games. He has allowed 15 goals, no more than two in any game this season. Only two conference opponents have scored multiple goals on LMU and only four total in 11 games. Miklosi leads the SAC with 44 saves, saving 75 percent of shots that are on goal.
Two players headline Lincoln Memorial's offense. Gian-Carlo Kama is the team leader in goals with 4. He also leads the squad in points (8), shots (26), and shots on goal (12). He is one of just two players to start each game for LMU this season. Ronan O'Mahony Blondel is the other quality offensive threat for a Railsplitters offense that ranks sixth in the SAC with 12 goals. O'Mahony Blondel is tied for the most assists in the SAC with four in his eight games this year. Lincoln Memorial has scored multiple goals just three times and has won all of those games.
First touch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. in Harrogate, Tennessee. A video stream is available with a subscription to FloSports at cneagles.com/floMsoc.
















