JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Coming off a win over No. 13 Limestone, No. 20 Carson-Newman will turn its heads to the final opponent of the regular season in the Catawba College Catawba Indians on Saturday, Oct. 27. Game time from McCown Field is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.
The Eagles will also honor their seniors approximately 20 minutes prior to kickoff.
"We feel good at home and we have that invincible feeling," Duffy said. "We get to close out the last couple games at home plus hosting the first round of the tournament. The fans on Wednesday brought me back to last year. They were brilliant and it makes such a difference. I hope they understand that but we're going to need them again moving forward. I hope they continue to come and bring support for these players."
�� @CNWSoccer Coach @SimonDuffy17 takes the time to thank the fans for their support in the win over No. 13 Limestone. pic.twitter.com/6tHKVTlhzz
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CNathletics) October 25, 2018
C-N will matchup against Nick Brown's Indians (12-3, 6-3) who has led the team to its most wins in a season since 2012 when they finished the year 13-7. The six South Atlantic Conference wins are the most since 2014.
Catawba has lost conference games to Lincoln Memorial, Tusculum, and Lenoir-Rhyne this season as they remain in a three-way tie for third at 18 points with LMU and L-R, who both own the tiebreaker over the Indians.
Catawba was picked to finish sixth in the league in the 2018 preseason poll. Anderson is currently No. 2 in the league while their prediction was behind the Catawba Indians in seventh and the Railsplitters in eighth.
Brown's squad comes off back-to-back wins over the aforementioned Anderson and Chowan.
Catawba had just one player named to the preseason All-SAC teams as midfielder Jovana Sanchez cracked the second-team. She has six goals and six goals in 15 games, but just one goal in conference matches. Catawba as a unit is third in the league in goals scored with 32. They lead the league in corners gathering an astounding 116 on the year. The next closest team is C-N with 91, and it drops even further to 67 with the following two teams in Wingate and Queens.
The defense has been a strong part of the Catawba Indians 12-win season as goalkeeper Shelby Thompson's 12 wins are the most in the conference. Thompson is second in the league with six shutouts and owns a goals against average of 0.96. Her 56 saves are 4th in the league.
Brown took the reins of the Catawba College Women's Soccer program in the spring of 2015. A former player for the Catawba men's team, Brown had served an assistant with the women's program since 2010. Prior to becoming Catawba's head coach, he was at the helm at Lake Norman High School
C-N will look to continue its dominant stretch against SAC foes during the regular season. The Eagles 35-4-2 against league opponents over the last three-plus regular-season meetings outscoring the opposition 129-29. The incredible numbers over the span come after C-N went just 3-14 in 2014 and 1-10 in the SAC.
Duffy and the Eagles will honor eight seniors prior to the match: Jessica Fraiture, Holly Talbut-Smith, Averi Williams, Alex Brandan, Catarina Realista, Magda Mosengo, Kennedy Rankin, and Jaidyn Zapf.
"The biggest thing is we owe it to our seniors on Saturday, "Duffy said. "We need to make sure we are giving it everything because they've been doing that and epitomize what this program has done over the last three years. I've never met a bunch of winners and a bunch of competitors like them. I can't thank them enough for buying in what we wanted to do and the way we wanted to do it. Without that, I don't think any of the success comes."
Tune in to cneagles.com/live for Saturday's match or stay up to date through the game and postgame at @CNAthletics on Twitter.
-CN-
