Hickory, N.C.--No. 21 ranked Lenoir-Rhyne Men's Soccer defeated the SAC regular season champions Carson-Newman 2-0 on Senior Night Wednesday at Moretz Sports Complex. The Bears got goals from
Dani Fernandez and
Jaime Poza on the evening while
Juan Basabe got his second straight clean sheet and added an assist in the contest.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: #21 Lenoir-Rhyne 2, Carson-Newman 0
Records: #21 Lenoir-Rhyne (10-4-1, 7-3-1 SAC) ,Carson-Newman (11-4-0. 9-2-0)
Location: Hickory, N.C. I Moretz Sports Complex
STATS OF THE MATCH:
- The Bears got on the board in the 24th minute with Poza's assist setting up Fernandez's goal to give the Bears the 1-0 lead.
- LR almost added to their lead but C-N's Bram Kaarsgaren stopped a Victor Cascon shot on a one-on-one breakaway in the 37th minute.
- Carson-Newman outshot the Bears 7-3 in the first half but had only one shot on goal.
- The Bears got the insurance goal in the 57th minute. Basabe's leg set up Poza to score his second goal of the season. Basabe kicked it deep down field after a goal kick to give Poza the one-on-one opportunity and he beat Kaargaren to find the back of the net.
- LR held the Eagles to just two second half shots and no shots on goal as Basabe had one save on the night.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
- The Bears honored their six seniors today with a special ceremony after the match.
- The game today featured last weeks SAC Players of the Week. Carson-Newman's goalie Bram Kaarsgaren was the SAC Defensive Player of the Week while LR's Nicolas Bohigues was the SAC Offensive Player of the Week.
- LR has had four different SAC Offensive Player of the Week winners this year. Joining Bohigues has been Cascon, Noah Tiefel and Carlos Montoliu Lobo as winners so far this season.
- With the win today, it marks the 13th time the Bears have won at least ten games in a season.
- It also marked their seventh conference win of the season, which ties for most in program history (2016, 2018)
- The Bears have completed their 18th season with a winning record in program history.
- Bears have earned the No. 3 seed for the third time in the last five SAC Conference Tournaments.
UP NEXT: Bears will host Mars Hill on Saturday night in the SAC Quarterfinal with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m.