C-N heads to Anderson for final regular season game

C-N heads to Anderson for final regular season game

ANDERSON, SC – Carson-Newman (6-6-3, 4-4-2 SAC) kicks off against Anderson (5-7-4, 3-3-4 SAC) tomorrow at 1 p.m. for its final game of the regular season. The Eagles and Trojans are tied in the SAC standings for the final spot in the league tournament - the winner of the game guarantees itself a spot in postseason play.

 

"There's a lot of pressure on the kids," Carson-Newman head soccer coach Richard Moodie said. "You have to love games like this."

 

The Eagles are coming off a hard 2-0 loss at Tusculum last Wednesday.

 

Senior captain Tiarna McKenna (Lisburn, Northern Ireland) tallied three saves during the match. She is currently ranked seventh in the conference with a total of 63 saves on the season.

 

"We have two ties on our record," Moodie said. "Had we won those, we could have been hosting and now we're battling just to make it into the conference tournament."

 

On Oct. 6, Anderson tied Tusculum 0-0 after two overtimes.

 

Anderson is coming off a loss as well with a 3-0 final at Wingate.

 

Carson-Newman lost 4-1 to Wingate on Sept. 14. Senior Lizeth Munguia (Wilmington, NC) put in the lone goal for the Eagles in the 85th minute by capitalizing on a deflected free kick taken by Mikayla Gregg (Newport, Tenn.).

 

"It's a reality check for the girls because if we lose, we're done; there's nothing left," Moodie said. "Our expectations this year were to make it to the tournament. We're on the road against a good team and we have to win."

 

Freshman Gabrielle Gianeselli currently leads the Eagles in points with 11 tying her for 18th in the conference. Gregg and senior Danna Stringle (Woodstock, Ontario, Canada) trail closely with 10 points.

 

Last year, the Trojans defeated C-N 1-0. Summer Miller scored the lone goal seven minutes into the match and Krystal Goss claimed the assist.

 

"The girls have to win this game if they want to keep practicing next week," Moodie said. "I'll be here next week, so that's on them what they do on Saturday."

 

The game can be followed live at http://autrojans.com/webcast.asp.