JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - Fabian Navarro's score with ten seconds before the final horn put the icing on the cake as the Lee men's soccer team kicked off the 2021 season in style with a 3-1 win in Jefferson City against the Carson-Newman Eagles.
The Flames turned on the heat early with two back to back goals in the first half. Senior Mattia Balzano scored the first goal of the season off a corner kick from senior Eemali Makela in the 10th minute.
A minute later, a foul from the Eagles brought Makela another corner kick. Navarro received the kick and delivered the assist to fellow freshman Jeremy Bischoff, who headed the ball right into the back of the net. The goals were scored within 1:14 of each other.
Two minutes later, Bischoff made his presence felt on the defensive end as he deflected the Eagles first shot of the game while senior goalie Sam Keener was out of the box. In the following six minutes, Keener had two crucial saves, and the Flames brick-wall defense kept Carson-Newman scoreless for the rest of the first half.
The second half began as a back-and-forth battle as the intensity picked up with both teams tallying four fouls in the first ten minutes. Carson-Newman picked up the game's first of three yellow cards at the 56:22 mark.
From then on, Lee remained in control. The Flames took five shots in the next 20 minutes, but to no avail. Then with eight minutes left, Thaylan Silva scored to give Carson-Newman their lone goal of the game and cut the deficit to one.
The game looked like it was wrapped up with Lee just ahead by one, but with 10 seconds before the buzzer, Navarro veered through the Eagles defense to get one more on the board for the Flames.
"I'm thrilled for the guys as that is a great way to start the season. It's still early on and there are a lot of things we need to improve upon but in these early games you want your team tested in multiple ways and tonight we were," said Lee head coach Derek Potteiger, now in his fifth year on the sidelines for the Flames. "Collectively we rose to the challenge and so many individuals stepped up when needed and those are great signs at the start of the season."
The Flames led 14-10 in shots and placed 10 on target compared to the Eagles' 5. Keener had three saves, while Eagles' goalie Bram Kaarsgaren was credited with seven as he faced constant pressure from the Lee attack.
"We have a good group of soccer players, but what gets me most excited for this group is their mentality. To face some challenges like we did tonight and handle them, shows the character of this team and often that is even more important than talent," added Potteiger. "They need a break after that game, but we are already looking forward to our home opener and hoping we can get a result for the Lee fans on Tuesday night."
The Flames begin the year 1-0 as they open up the home portion of the schedule against the University of North Georgia on Tuesday at the Ray Conn Sports Complex. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
