Wednesday, October 6, 2004

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Wednesday’s match between top-ranked Carson-Newman and No. 10 Tusculum was billed as one of the biggest men’s soccer matches in the nation during the 2004 season. It lived up to the hype. Carson-Newman's Brad Cobbs kicked in a rebound shot from 30 feet at the 117:26 mark as the Eagles defeated the Pioneers 4-3 in two overtimes in front of a packed house at McCown Field. With the win, the Eagles improve to 10-0, 3-0 in the South Atlantic Conference while Tusculum suffers its first loss of the season, falling to 9-1, 4-1 in the SAC. (Box Score)

The Eagles jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first half. Brad Collins took a kick from Cobbs for a goal off a free kick in the fifth minute of the match. Marius Arnesen scored an unassisted goal with a kick from 20 feet out in the 12th minute. Collins scored his second goal of the match when Jussi Wooler found him for a break-away goal in the 32nd minute.

But then the Pioneers started their huge comeback as Paul Hopkins (Portsmouth, England) scored on a header from teammate Gerald Watt (Brampton, Ontario) at the 36:19 mark. Freshman Gareth Williams (Wrexham, Wales) brought the Pioneers to within one at the 75:24 mark and senior Andre Nesfield (Arima, Nesfield) knotted the score at 3-3 with 1:50 to play. The game would head to an extra frame tied at 3-3.

The two teams could only manage three shots in the first overtime, despite the fact they combined for 35 shots for the match. The Eagles out-shot the Pioneers 4-0 in the second overtime, including Cobbs’ game-winning goal.

The Eagles play at Catawba on Oct. 9 at 7:30 p.m. while the Pioneers play at Newberry on Oct. 10 at 4 p.m.