Junior Julianne Herity (Donegal, Ireland) scored the game-winner in the 102nd-minute for the team's first overtime victory since 2013; the Eagles' win ended a seven-game losing streak to L-R and tallied their first win in the series since 2009.
After a scoreless 10 minutes during the first overtime period, the Eagles gained control of the momentum early into the second 10-minute. Freshman Alex Brandan (Knoxville, Tenn.) sent a long ball down the left to the foot of Talbut-Smith; a L-R defender misplayed Talbut-Smith's initial touch that set up a one-on-one situation with Leano, who made the initial save. Lenoir-Rhyne cleared the ball to the midfield and the ball was retrieved by the Eagles' Camilla Olsson (Trondheim, Norway) who played the ball to Herrity; Herrity played a give-and-go with Talbut-Smith that left Herrity unmarked in the box and she slotted the ball into the right corner of the net for the game-winning goal.
"It just dropped to me and I didn't think about letting it bounce or anything. I headed it. I thought it was going wide at the start and it went in and we just erupted after that. It was an unbelievable feeling," Herrity said.
Freshman Holly Talbut-Smith (Crawley, England) tallied the Eagles' first half after Lenoir-Rhyne's goalkeeper Andrea Leano misplayed a long ball into her box. Talbut-Smith picked up the ball in the box and easily slid her shot home for the goal and to give Carson-Newman a 1-0 lead 21st-minute.
Lenoir-Rhyne used a penalty kick late in the first stanza to tie the score. Freshman defender Averi Williams (Powell, Tenn.) fell and knocked down a Lenoir-Rhyne attacker for a kick from the penalty spot. Emmi Dunn took the shot and scored to level the score at 1-1 at the halftime break.
Back-and-forth play began the second period until L-R took the lead in the 71st-minute. Senior Leah Mullins picked up a cleared ball at the midfield line, beat two Eagle defenders and tallied the goal to push the Bears ahead 2-1.
Carson-Newman responded immediately after the goal. The Eagles controlled possession and were fouled to set up a free kick at the end of the 18-yard box. Freshman Varin Ness (Sogndal, Norway) lined up the kick and sent over the L-R wall into the back of the net to tie the game at 2-2 at the end of regulation.
Talbut-Smith, Ness and Herrity all three tallied three shots to tie for the team lead. Freshman Jessica Fraiture (Hebron, Ky.) recorded six saves in her third-career win.
Mullins and senior Kendall Smith led Lenoir-Rhyne with three shots each, while Leano recorded four saves in her second loss of the year.
Carson-Newman won its first SAC since 2011 when the Eagles knocked off Brevard 5-0. C-N outshot its opponent for the fourth-consecutive match to open the season with a 15 to 13 advantage over the Bears.
"We started off slow with low intensity but our girls did a great job to dig deep in overtime and not give up. We have a special team this year and I am excited to see them grow as the season continues," assistant coach Sarah Tompkins said.
The Eagles cap their five-game home stand to open the 2015 campaign with a 5 p.m. kickoff against the Newberry Wolves at McCown Field on Saturday afternoon.
-CN-
