JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn – After picking up their second NCAA Tournament win in two years on Friday, the Carson-Newman women's soccer team moves into the second round, where they will face one of the host schools in the Southeast Region, the second-seeded and 20th ranked North Georgia Nighthawks, on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. at the University of North Georgia Soccer Complex in Dahlonega, Ga.
The Eagles (17-3-1, 8-2-1), who are a six-seed in the tourney, reached round two by upsetting third-seeded Limestone on Friday. Second half goals by Heida Ragney (Akureyri, Iceland) and Lara Hallgrimsdottir (Kopavogur, Iceland), as well as another stellar performance by the C-N defense, propelled the team to a 2-0 win and put the squad into round two for the second consecutive season. Carson-Newman entered the tournament after capturing the South Atlantic Conference regular season and tournament titles and are now on a six-game win streak, their longest of 2016. They are attempting to clinch a spot in the Sweet 16 for the second year in-a-row and seventh time in program history.
The last time North Georgia took the field was a week ago in the Peach Belt Conference title game against Columbus State. The Nighthawks were handed a 3-2 loss by the Cougars, ending what had been a 13-game unbeaten streak. Despite that loss, their 14-2-3 overall record was good enough to earn them the Southeast region's two-seed, making them a host school for the tournament, which means this match will be played on their home field. Coach Chris Adams's team sports a 9-1 record on their home field, with their only loss coming against Columbus State back in September. They also were in the tourney field in 2015 and lost in the second round to Columbus State.
On offense, UNG has piled up 65 goals this year, an average of 3.42 per game. Both of those marks are sixth in the country. They have scored multiple goals in 10 of their last 11 contests and have not been shutout all season. They have also scored at least five goals four times, with their season-high being 10, a total they reached against USC-Aiken less than a month ago. Their leading scorer is one of the nation's best in junior forward Rachel Van Horn. The Marietta, Ga. native leads the Peach Belt with 19 goals, the seventh-most in the nation and her 42 points are the PBC's most and place her 11th in Division II. The Nighthawks attack also includes senior Jacy Ramey, who is tied for fourth in the PBC with 11 scores and sophomore Renee Van Horn, who is tied for fifth in the league with six assists.
One of the few teams ahead of the Nighthawks in the country in terms of scoring is Carson-Newman. Their 75 goals and average of 3.57 per game place them in top five. The Eagles have also won every game this season in which they've scored more than once, while their opponents have lost two such games. Junior midfielder Lauren Wade (Coleraine, Northern Ireland) has 20 goals, 10 assists and 50 points to her credit this season and leads the nation in points per game at 3.13 and is in the top five in goals per game at 1.25. Her totals for goals and points also lead the SAC, while she is second in assists to teammate Varin Ness (Sogndal, Norway), who has 11, including three in her last two games. Second in the SAC in goals and points is senior Julianne Herrity (Donegal, Ireland) who has 18 scores and 43 points. Her 34 career goals place her fifth all-time in the Carson-Newman record book. While Wade, Ness and Herrity top the C-N leaderboard, Coach Richard Moodie's squad sports a balanced attack that has seen 16 different players score goals this year.
Breaking the Carson-Newman defense has proved just as formidable a task for opposing teams as slowing down the offense. The squad earned its conference-best 14th clean sheet on Friday, limiting a Limestone offense that averaged 22 shots per game to just 10. The C-N backline has also not given up more than seven shots on goal in a game all season. The shots that have gotten through have been dealt with by freshman keeper Jacqueline Burns (Cookstown, Northern Ireland), who owns a save percentage of .855, the SAC's second-best.
For the Nighthawks, they enter Sunday with a goals-against average of 0.96, tied for fourth in the Peach Belt. They have eight shutouts to their credit, but also have a trio of games in which they've conceded three times. Two goalies have seen substantial playing time for UNG, but freshman Kaitlyn Siberski started all three games during the PBC Tournament. She possesses a 1.26 GAA and a save percentage of .674 to go with a 7-2-1 record.
These teams have played just three times prior to Sunday, with North Georgia taking two of those meetings. The most recent confrontation came in 2012 and ended with an 8-2 romp by the Nighthawks, who also topped the Eagles in 2011 by a score of 3-2. Carson-Newman won the first meeting in the series with a 4-0 triumph at home in 2001.
The match will be broadcast live on YouTube via the Nighthawk Sports Network and you can find live stats on ungathletics.com. An in-depth rundown of all the action from Dahlonega will be up on cneagles.com after the game.
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