JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - Part one of a three-part series previewing the second-ranked Carson Newman women's soccer program will focus on the forwards for the upcoming 2018 campaign, a position in which the team returns three top-scoring threats.
The forward position will be led by Magda Mosengo (London, England) who was fifth in the nation in points last season with 47 and tied for third in assists with 13. Mosengo heads into her senior season as the all-time leading scorer in Eagles program history during the postseason after her torrid pace in the NCAA tournament last season. The forward notched eight goals in a five-game span after just scoring one goal during her postseason career prior.
Mosengo earned NCAA D2 Women's Soccer Championship All-Tournament Team honors for her efforts. She also tied for the team and conference-lead in game-winning goals with seven, which included a rocket in overtime against Tusculum to send C-N to the South Atlantic Conference Championship.
"She really found form when we needed it," Assistant Coach Julianne Herrity mentioned. "She definitely should've been an All-American without a doubt. She knows what we want from her this year and we'll be looking to her."
The Eagles also return sophomore Emilee Futrell (Wilson, N.C.) who after a freshman campaign was seventh in the nation among first-year players with nine goals including the game winner in the National Semifinal against UC Colorado Springs. She notched 21 points in total which was fifth in the conference and best among the freshman of the year finalists.
"She hit the ground running in terms of goal scoring coming into her first year," Herrity said. "It's just trying to keep building and she set the bar high for herself."
The team also returns a senior in Holly Talbut-Smith (Crawley, England) who fought through an injury-riddled 2017 but despite what many thought would hamper her play, she started in 21 games for C-N last season and was third on the team in points with 22. In back-to-back years, Talbut-Smith collected first-team All-SAC honors and Academic All-District honors. For the first time in her career, she cracked a spot on All-Southeast Region squad, making the third-team.
C-N will also return Allie-Anne Blackburn (Franklin, Tenn.) who provided valuable minutes off the bench in 2017 appearing in 20 of the team's 23 games. She added three assists in just under 500 minutes played.
Simon Duffy added two freshmen to the rotation in Kim McAlpine (Stirlingshire, Scotland) and Lauren Hattery (Canton, Ohio).
McAlpine was a dual-sport athlete Graeme High School in both Soccer and Basketball. Kim was the top goal scorer with the school soccer team as well as the basketball team. She was also the captain for both sports, leading the teams to victory by winning the league cups and Scottish cups. In the final of the Scottish Cup, a final of 4-2, McAlpine scored all four of the team's goals.
Hattery was lauded as one of the top players out of Jackson High School bringing an impressive resume to C-N. In her four years under Frank Gagliardi, Hattery helped the Polar Bears to federal league champs and district titles in all four seasons, to go with a regional championship in her senior season. The Ohio native was a four-time all-federal league, four-time all-county, three-time all-district as well as 2017 Stark County Player of the Year.
The team will have to live without Lauren Wade who accounted for a team-leading 49 points last year.
"Just hopefully we can build on last season moving forward but Wade is someone you can't replace," Herrity added. "But I do think the incoming freshman will add more depth at that spot for us."
Part two of the three-part series will feature the midfielders and defenders for the 2018 program.
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