HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman women's soccer team (8-2, 5-1 SAC) picked up its first South Atlantic Conference shutout since 2013 with a 3-0 win over the Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters (3-4-3, 1-3-2 SAC) Wednesday afternoon at the LMU Soccer Complex in Harrogate, Tenn.
The Eagles recorded their first conference clean sheet since a double-overtime scoreless draw against the Coker Cobras on Oct. 19th, 2013 and their first win when holding the opponent goalless since Oct. 27th, 2012 when C-N knocked off Mars Hill 1-0.
Freshman Jessica Fraiture turned away two shots in 90 minutes of play for her second-career clean sheet.
"Girls played very well. It was a great performance by the whole team," assistant coach Sarah Tompkins said. "It was a good reaction from the team after the Anderson game."
The win gets the Eagles at pace at the top of the league table with 15 points and three points behind the leading Wingate Bulldogs.
Carson-Newman struck early in the sixth-minute as freshman Varin Ness (Sogndal, Norway) took a long pass and beat a Lincoln Memorial defender into the middle of the six-yard box and beat goalkeeper Kathryn Lundy to her right for Ness's seventh goal of the year. Ness's strike was the earliest goal scored by the Eagles on the year.
Junior Julianne Herrity (Donegal, Ireland) tallied the Eagles' second goal in the 54th-minute. Herrity took a long cross from the left sideline at the midfield stripe from sophomore Camilla Olsson (Trondheim, Norway) across the field to the right edge of the 18-yard box and drove in and beat Lundy on a breakaway to her left for Herrity's fifth goal of 2015 and C-N led 2-0.
Senior Nikki McWilliams (Saintfield, Northern Ireland) found the back of the net for the fourth time in 2015 12 minutes after Herrity with a long strike from past the right edge of the 18-yard box and snuck her shot into the high corner of the net. McWilliams's strike pushed the Eagles ahead 3-0.
Ness's seven goals midway through the 2015 season has her three off the school record of 10 goals by a freshman set by Morgan Gruenfelder in 2007. Olsson now has three assists on the year.
The Eagles outshot LMU 18 to 13 with seven of C-N's shots landing on frame. Herrity led the team with six shots, while McWilliams landed four attempts on frame. Michelle Hunter led the Railsplitters with four shots.
The Eagles continue their five-game road swing with a trip to Salisbury, N.C. to face the Catawba Indians on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.
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