Eagles Look for 2-0 Start in Home Opener Against Lees-McRae

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Just two days after opening the 2016 season with a 3-1 victory at Trevecca Nazarene, the Carson-Newman women's soccer team will be back on the pitch for their home opener.

On Saturday evening, Lees-McRae will visit McCown Field to face the defending South Atlantic Conference champions. The match is scheduled to kick-off at 5pm.

"First game at home, I think our players will be excited," Head Coach Richard Moodie said. "There's always something about playing at McCown Field. I think it's difficult for the away team to come here and get a win. We're going to make sure we make it as difficult as possible."

The Eagles are fresh off their victory in Nashville, where Julianne Herrity (Donegal, Ireland) recorded her team's first goal of the year just 37 seconds into the contest. They later added scores from Holly Talbut-Smith (Crawley, England)and Lauren Wade (Coleraine, Northern Ireland)and got a solid evening in net from Jacqueline Burns (Cookstown, Northern Ireland)to earn the W.

"It was a great performance," Moodie said. "To get your first goal 37 seconds in is a great way to start any campaign. It was a tough game, for sure, but our girls handled it well."

Lees-McRae also took the field on Thursday for the first time this year, as they faced North Georgia and dropped a 2-0 decision. The Bobcats were outshot 25-2 by North Georgia and also had three players receive yellow cards. Their lone bright spot from the contest was goalkeeper Alexis Feely's 11 saves.

L-M entered 2016 having graduated its two leading scorers from last year. Its top returning point getter is defender Cheyenne Warwick, who was credited with two goals in 2015.

This will be the second straight year Lees-McRae and Carson-Newman have squared off. Last season, C-N went on the road and shutout the Bobcats 3-0. That battle included two goals from Varin Ness, who provided her team with all the offensive firepower they would need, netting goals in the 22^nd and 68^th minutes. The Eagles also outshot Lees-McRae 26-11 over the full 90 minutes. C-N will have the chance to even the overall series between the programs, which currently stands at 7-6 in Lees-McRae's favor.

"We're going into this contest with a gameplan," Moodie said. "We have to have the ability to adapt and be unpredictable and we have the quality within our squad to get it done."

Full coverage of the match will be available on cneagles.com/live with live stats and HD video. Mark Inserra will have the call and stats and a full recap of the action will be available on cneagles.com after the contest.