Eagles open SAC Tournament Quest at Emory & Henry
November 8, 2025

Eagles open SAC Tournament Quest at Emory & Henry

South Atlantic Conference Tournament play for seventh-seeded Carson-Newman (3-9-3) begins in the quarterfinal round with a matchup against second-seeded Emory & Henry (7-5-3) on Sunday evening at 6:30 p.m.

VIDEO: C-N vs Tusculum Cinematic Recap

C-N Match Notes (PDF)

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – South Atlantic Conference Tournament play for seventh-seeded Carson-Newman (3-9-3) begins in the quarterfinal round with a matchup against second-seeded Emory & Henry (7-3-5) on Sunday evening at 6:30 p.m.

Carson-Newman earned a conference tournament berth thanks to a 2-1 win over its rival Tusculum on Wednesday. The match was tied at 1 with less than 5 minutes to play, but the Eagles embraced the challenge of needing to win and scored off a corner kick in the 86th minute in the regular season finale.

Sunday's quarterfinal showdown will be just C-N's second road quarterfinal game over the past six seasons. The last time C-N traveled for a road quarterfinal was 2023, losing 1-0 to top-seeded Wingate. In head coach Stephen Lyons' nine seasons, it will be just the fourth time his team heads into the postseason off a victory. The Eagles are winless in their past three quarterfinal matchups, with their last win coming in the spring of 2021 to Lincoln Memorial. Under Lyons, C-N is 2-6-1 at the SAC Tournament.

Of C-N's 15 games this season, 12 of them have been decided by one goal or less. The Eagles are just 3-6-3 in such games this season. Five of the team's six losses in conference action were one goal losses.

 Half of Mitchell Honcoop's goals in 2025 are penalty kick goals. The Dutchmen is a perfect three for three in penalty kicks this season. Two of the three are in SAC play, including his most recent one with 25 seconds left in the opening half at Wingate. Honcoop is now tied with eight other Eagles for the most PK goals in a single season in program history. He is up to five career penalty kick goals, tied for the second-most in program history.

Carson-Newman is playing into the month of November for the third straight season. Under Stephen Lyons, the Eagles are 2-7-3 in November games with both wins being over Tusculum.

These two sides played a regular season matchup in Jefferson City, Tennessee and it was E&H scoring in the final 10 minutes to win 1-0. Noah Serwy connected with Jean-Charles Eyidi after a C-N turnover to score the game-winner. An extremely defensive game saw the two teams combine for just 19 shots and five corner kicks. C-N only hit the target on two of its nine shots. Sunday night's battle will be the first-ever postseason meeting in a series that will have just its fifth meeting. The matchup will also be E&H's first conference postseason game as a member of the South Atlantic Conference.

Emory & Henry is the hottest team in the South Atlantic Conference. The Wasps take a 12-match unbeaten streak into postseason play, the longest current streak of any SAC school. They finished the regular season with a 7-3-5 overall record and a 6-1-3 conference record which was good enough to be the number two seed.

Despite the 12-match unbeaten streak, E&H has only won twice in its past five matchups. Those victories are shutouts over Newberry and Wingate. The Wasps could not have been the number one seed but did miss out on being able to call themselves co-regular season champions in their finale. E&H's Jean Charles Eyidi scored with just 26 seconds left to break the ice in a scoreless match. For what many thought was the game-winner, Lincoln Memorial had a different idea. Thomas Chao connected with Antonio Talavera who booted a shot into the back of the net in the final seconds to tie E&H 1-1.

Emory & Henry has the fifth-best offense in the SAC, averaging 1.20 goals per match this season. Jean-Charles Eyidi's five goals lead the way. Noah Serwy is also a strong presence with four goals and and a league-best six assists this season as well. E&H is very inaccuate with its shots, hitting the target on just 37 percent of attempts. That mark ranks dead last in the SAC.

The Wasps have a strong defense that allows less than a goal per game. Goalkeeper Baptiste Berthozat has five shutouts in 12 starts this season and has only allowed nine goals, the fewest by a goalie in the league. His .791 save percentage is third-best in the SAC this season.

First touch in Emory, Virginia is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. A video stream is available with a subscription to FloSports at cneagles.com/floMsoc.

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