VIDEO: Richard Moodie Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn – On Tuesday evening, the Carson-Newman women's soccer team will play the second-to-last game on their regular season schedule, as they host the Lincoln Memorial University Railsplitters at 5 p.m. at McCown Field.
"Hopefully, we can get back on track with scoring goals," Soccer Coach Richard Moodie said. "That's where we'll start on Tuesday."
The Eagles have a record of 11-3-1 and are 6-2-1 and in fifth place in the South Atlantic Conference. They are coming off their first tie of the season in a road match against Brevard on Saturday that ended scoreless. The team set a season high with 55 shots and Julianne Herrity's (Donegal, Ireland) 16 were also the most by a C-N player this season. Both totals were the most by the program since 2011, but they were unable to find the back of the net and the squad was shutout for the third time this season. In their last three road games, the Eagles have not scored and, obviously, are without a win. The good news for them is they are returning home, where they are undefeated, for their final two matches for the regular season. The team's last two home contests have seen them knock off Tusculum, the top squad in the South Atlantic Conference, 4-2 and Catawba 6-0. The two goals the Pioneers scored on them were the first tallies they'd surrendered at home all season.
"I think it's a tough place to play," Moodie said. "We're accustomed to it, playing on it every day and that makes it difficult for other teams to come here and play. You expect to win all your games at home. Hopefully, we can show up tomorrow."
Lincoln Memorial has spent this season in the SAC's second division after a 1-7 start and they are currently 10th in the conference with just seven points and a 2-6-1 record. Overall they stand at 3-9-1. The Railsplitters have played four straight overtime contests, including a 2-1 win over Coker on Oct. 15th, but their last two times out, they fell to Mars Hill and Anderson (S.C.). LMU's only two SAC wins have come against the two teams below them in the SAC, Brevard and Coker, and both of those victories came at home.
The main reason the Railsplitters have struggled this season has been an inability to score goals, as they've been shutout seven times this season. They began the season by scoring just three goals in their first eight matches and they've netted more than one only three times all year. One of those match-ups was their loss to Anderson on Saturday, when they fell 3-2 in overtime. For the year, they've only gotten on the scoresheet 12 times, which puts them third from the bottom in the SAC. Sophomore Caroline Souza leads the squad with four goals and 10 points and is the only player on the roster with more than one assist.
Despite not being able to find a goal on Saturday, the Eagles still top the SAC with 56 scores, 23 more than anyone else, and their 25.5 shots per game also lead the league. Lauren Wade (Coleraine, Northern Ireland) is the leader in the conference with 15 goals and Herrity is just one behind with 14. Herrity has 30 career goals to her credit during her time with C-N and needs just one more to move into sole possession of fifth place on the all-time C-N leaderboard. Wade also holds the league lead in points with 38 points, the most in a season by an Eagle since Jennifer Brock had 38 in 2004. Herrity is in second place with 32 points, making her and Wade the first Carson-Newman teammates to reach 30 points in the same season since Brock and Rebecca Angus both reached that mark in 2004. Holly Talbut-Smith (Crawley, England) leads the conference with nine assists and is tied for the fourth-most points with 23. Wade and Varin Ness (Sogndal, Norway) are tied for second in the league with eight assists.
The Eagles' offense has been backed up by outstanding defense and great work in goal by Jacqueline Burns (Cookstown, Northern Ireland). Fullbacks Elissa Lane (Knoxville, Tenn.), Averi Williams (Powell, Tenn.) and Helen Seed (Preston, England) have played every game this year for C-N to lead a defense that has allowed only 51 shots on goal, the fewest in the conference. Three times this season, the C-N's back line has allowed fewer than five total shots, including their tie at Brevard, when they conceded only two. Burns picked up her ninth shutout of the season against the Tornados, meaning she needs just one more to break Jessica Fraiture's (Hebron, Ky.) program record for shutouts in a season. Burns leads the league with a goals-against average of 0.59, has allowed nine goals, the fourth fewest, and has earned the fifth best save percentage at .824.
LMU coach Helio D'Anna has used two goalkeepers this season, but senior Kathryn Lundy has been the starter of late, playing every minute of the last five games. Sophomore Brooke Taylor has also seen significant action in net this season, but Lundy has posted the better statistics. Her GAA of 2.03 is nearly a goal-and-a-half better than Taylor's and she also have a save percentage of .759 compared to Taylor's .658.
The lead in the all-time series between these teams is held by the Eagles with 14 wins to LMU's seven with one tie. That mark includes two victories that C-N picked up over the Railsplitters last season, one of which was a 1-0 win in the SAC Tournament. The game-winner in that match came from Ness on a free kick and the Eagles also went to LMU in early October and captured a 3-0 triumph. The last time these squads matched-up at McCown Field in the regular season was in 2014, when the Railsplitters outscored their opponents 4-3 in overtime.
All 90 minutes of the match will be broadcast live on cneagles.com/live with Mark Inserra on the call and up-to-the-minute stats will also be available. The write-up of the match will be available on cneagles.com afterwards.
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