JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn – Coming off a victory over the top team in the South Atlantic Conference, the Carson-Newman women's soccer team makes a trip to Brevard for their final regular season road game of 2016, as they'll face the Tornados at Brevard Soccer Field at 5 p.m.
The Eagles hosted Tusculum on Wednesday and proceeded to hand them their first league loss of the year after the Pioneers began their SAC schedule 7-0-1. C-N got a hat trick from Lauren Wade (Coleraine, Northern Ireland) in the win, which moves them into a tie for fourth in the SAC with an 8-2 record. Carson-Newman's overall record now stands at 11-3, which is the best in the conference. Coach Moodie's team enters this match with four wins in their last five games, but they have dropped their last two road contests, both by 1-0 scores. They'll be trying to stop that trend on Saturday, as well as build on Wednesday's momentum.
For Brevard, the good vibes of a 3-0 start have been wiped away by an 11-game losing streak that's left them as the only winless team in SAC play. The Tornados started the season by outscoring their first three opponents 9-0, but since conference play began, it's been a very different story. They have just one conference goal to their credit and have been shutout in their last seven SAC match-ups. Six of their first seven league defeats were by one goal, but their last three losses have come by a combined score of 13-0, including a 6-0 drubbing by Newberry on Wednesday.
Despite their losing streak, the Tornados have scored 11 goals this season, which ranks them 10th in the SAC, ahead of Lincoln Memorial and Coker. Four players are tied for the team lead with two goals apiece, one of whom, Ashley Hughes, leads Brevard with two assists and six points. Hughes also tallied the last goal her team has scored, which came against North Greenville on Sept. 27th in a 2-1 loss. The team's only conference goal was netted by Ashley Mevoli on Sept. 17th versus Coker, which is also the last time Brevard held a lead, as they let a 1-0 advantage slip away in a 2-1 defeat.
Carson-Newman has had no such trouble scoring, as they've had a stranglehold on the conference lead in goals all season. The four they scored against Tusculum raises their season total to 56, 24 ahead of second place Lenoir-Rhyne. Wade's hat trick allowed her to leapfrog teammate Julianne Herrity (Donegal, Ireland) and reclaim first place the SAC in goals, with 15, and points, with 38. The junior's 15 goals and eight assists have come in just nine games and she's been kept off the scoresheet just once this year. Herrity trails her teammate by just a single goal and has also racked up 32 points and sits second in the conference in both categories. The Eagles also occupy the top three spots in the SAC in terms of assists, as Holly Talbut-Smith (Crawley, England) tops the league with nine and Wade and Varin Ness (Sogndal, Norway) have eight.
In goal, C-N continues to rely on freshman Jacqueline Burns (Cookstown, Northern Ireland), who has provided the team with solid play. Having started every game this season, Burns possesses the SAC's second best goals-against average at 0.64 and has allowed only nine goals, the league's third fewest, to go with a save percentage of .820, tied for fourth best. Her eight shutouts are also the SAC's second most.
Two different goalkeepers have spent time in net for Brevard as Laurel Neuzil has started the majority of her team's games, including the last two, but Elise Youmans also has six starts to her credit. Youmans' statistics do look better, as she has a better save percentage and GAA and Neuzil has allowed all ten goals in Brevard's last two losses. Youmans also has all three of her team's victories, all of which were shutouts.
This year's contest will mark the 11th time these two teams have met and the Eagles hold a decided advantage with seven victories. They began the series by winning the first six matches before the squad's tied in 2012 and 2013. Brevard's only win came the last time they hosted C-N in 2014, when they earned a shutout and won 1-0. In 2015, Carson-Newman got scores from Ness and Mikayla Gregg to pick up a 2-0 victory.
Once this match concludes, cneagles.com will have a complete write-up of all the action.
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