The Belmont Abbey men's soccer team fell to visiting Carson-Newman 2-1 this afternoon in a non-conference matchup. The Eagles improve to 9-3-1, while the Crusaders fall to 9-8.

After a defensively dominated 30 minutes, Carson-Newman jumped ahead 1-0 in the 32nd minute as Omar Cooke dribbled down the left sideline and sent a cross to the middle of the box, where Robert Hill headed home the winner for a 1-0 advantage.

The Abbey gained the equalizer in the 57th minute with a tally similar to Carson-Newman's. Paul Goding beat a defender down the left sidelien and sent a low cross to the center of the box to the feet of Emmanual Yamson, who beat his mark and one-timed a left footer past Jordan Moore to knot the match at one, but the Eagles scored the go-ahead with exactly 15 minutes left in the half as Ben Backstrom gathered an Abbey clearing attempt and rocketed home a blast from 22 yards out for what turned out to be the game winner.

Belmont Abbey very nearly tied the match three minutes later, as a free kick by Kyle Fenner from the fight flank found the head of Yamson, but his attempt hit the crossbar and bounced off.

Carson-Newman outshot the Abbey 10-5 and held a 4-2 advantage in corner kicks. Bryan Alenky made five saves in the net for the Crusaders, while Moore registered a pair.