NEWBERRY, S.C. – Thanks to the head of freshman Sydnee Duncan (Athens, Tenn.), Carson-Newman women's soccer collects another three points in 2021 SAC play, moving into sole possession of fourth place in the standings. The Eagles (7-3-3, 5-2-1 SAC) were on the road in the Palmetto State as they went up against the Newberry Wolves (3-9, 3-5 SAC) from the Smith Road Complex.
The Wolves came into Saturday looking for their fourth straight SAC win of the season, while the Eagles could secure fourth place in the SAC standings with the three points. With the 1-0 victory on Saturday, C-N moves into sole possession of fourth place in the SAC standings behind Catawba, Lenoir-Rhyne, and Queens as they now hold 16 points in conference play this season.
Under head coach Simon Duffy, the Eagles are now 23-7-2 on the road and move to 19-3-2 when playing SAC foes on the road under Duffy. This season, the Eagles have collected a mark of 2-1-1 record on the road against SAC competition.
This is the third straight road victory over the Wolves for Carson-Newman as they have not lost in Newberry since October 2014 when they were handed a 4-0 defeat. Overall, Carson-Newman has now won seven straight over Newberry and are outscoring the Wolves 16-4 during the streak.
"Happy to get the win and we didn't get the momentum we needed in the first half," Carson-Newman head coach Simon Duffy said. "We were hoping we could get more goals to go in with the chances we had, but we were able to leave Newberry with a win and build upon our play in recent matches."
Both sides fought hard to gain any type of early momentum as they were looking to continue their impressive SAC seasons and take an early lead. After the first 15 minutes of gameplay, Newberry held the lone shot attempt in the eighth minute by Monica Jimenez. The first Eagles shot attempt did not come until the 20th minute when freshman Sydnee Duncan (Athens, Tenn.) saw her shot attempt blocked by a Wolves defender.
Graduate student Emilee Futrell (Wilson, N.C.) moved into the top three all-time for career shot attempts after Wednesday's 1-1 tie against Lincoln Memorial. The Wilson, N.C. native added another shot to her ledger on Saturday in the 23rd minute, moving her career shot total to 246 all-time.
The Eagles continued putting the pressure on the Wolves as they fired off four shots in the last 10 minutes of the first half, including a near miss by junior Makayla Garner (Fort Mill, S.C.) in the 38th minute which would have given the Eagles the 1-0 lead heading into the break.
The halftime whistle would blow and for the fourth time this season, the Eagles would see a score of 0-0 after the first 45 minutes. The last such instance this season came against the Shaw Bears from McCown Field on October 6. When entering the half tied at 0-0, C-N has ended up going 2-0-1 in the previous three such matches.
However, the Eagles would hold the 9-2 shot advantage as they held the Wolves without a shot attempt for 27 minutes of action. Meanwhile, Carson-Newman would also be the holder of the lone shot on goal during the first half, coming by sophomore Savannah Fields (Johnson City, Tenn.) in the 34th minute.
Makayla Garner would lead the way for C-N as she held two of the nine first half shot attempts. For Newberry, it would be Monica Jimenez and Jacqueline Aldrete each firing off an attempt for the home squad.
"We didn't really come out as strong as we have in the previous matches, but we talked about how strong our second half has been and it showed once more on Saturday," Duffy said. "We need to replicate what we've done in the second half in recent matches during the first 45 and I think we can build upon that and continue having success."
Only 10 seconds into the second half, Emilee Futrell looked to pull a fast one as she fired off another shot attempt, but it would be too high as the score remained tied at zero. Futrell would later try her luck as she crossed a beautiful ball into the box for freshman Nellie Bryneus (Halmstad, Sweden). Bryneus took one touch before ripping a shot which was just high of the crossbar and making it 1-0 Eagles in the 52nd minute.
Sydnee Duncan tried her luck as well, once more, in the 54th minute of the game as she fired a shot in the lower left corner, but her efforts would be saved by Newberry goalkeeper Delaney Hood. However, in the 66th minute, Duncan would prove to be the difference maker as she finally helped C-N crack open the scoring off as the final part of trio of freshman playmakers. First, it was freshman Alisha Heiniger (Duerrenroth, Switzerland) sending a cross to fellow freshman Nellie Bryneus.
Bryneus then took the chance to set up the final part as Sydnee Duncan would situate herself right in front of goal as Bryneus crossed in the ball, found the head of Duncan, and just like that, 1-0 Eagles and Duncan takes the team lead with her fifth goal of the 2021 season. For Bryneus, this would be her third assist of the season as she now holds the second-most assists on the team behind Emilee Futrell's four.
"The three girls we brought in have proved to be worthy of what we know they can do and will provide our program," Duffy said. "For Sydnee, she is a master of heading the ball into the back of the net which seems to be a lost art in today's soccer."
The last 20 minutes of action was back-and-forth as both sides combined for nine shot attempts as the goalkeepers were put into action, making four saves on the nine total shots. However, the Eagles defense stayed strong and held the Wolves scoreless, marking the third SAC opponent to be held scoreless by C-N and first road shutout for the Eagles since winning 1-0 over Wingate on September 18.
Once the final whistle blew, Carson-Newman finished the night with a 23-8 shot advantage including holding seven shots on goal compared to two for the Wolves. Saturday was the tenth match this season that C-N has outshot their opponents, as they had gone 6-1-2 in the previous nine instances.
Offensively, Sydnee Duncan finished with four shot attempts and three on goal, including the game-winner in the 66th minute. Overall, Emilee Futrell held the most shots by an Eagle Saturday as she fired off six shots and had one be on goal.
Starting for the Eagles between the pipes would be sophomore Lilly Ebner (Hohentengen, Germany). On Wednesday, Ebner made a pair of saves while allowing one goal to Lincoln Memorial as she moved to 5-2-3 on the season. Her most important save came in the 98th minute to keep the Eagles within striking distance and to send the game to the much needed second overtime period.
Saturday saw Ebner make two saves on eight total shots by the Wolves, as two were shots on goal. Ebner now has 36 saves on the season and moves to 6-2-3 in 2021 action. Saturday also marked Ebner's fourth shutout of the season as she has only allowed 12 goals all year.
Newberry was led by Monica Jimenez on the offensive side of the ball Saturday. She had two total shot attempts as neither would be a shot on goal. Jimenez saw teammate Jaidyn Jacobs also have two shot attempts as one of those classified as a shot on goal.
In between the pipes for Newberry was Delaney Hood. Hood made six saves on seven shots on goal by the Eagles. She moves to 3-4 in 2021 action while moving her saves total up to 42 in nine matches which she has seen action.
Carson-Newman will celebrate their seniors next Saturday as they welcome the Coker Cobras to McCown Field for a Saturday matinee on Saturday, October 23.
"The seniors and the memories we've captured the last four and five years will be tough to miss and they have been part of a legacy while leaving one behind themselves," Duffy said. "It will be tough to see them leave, but we know what we can do and hopefully we come out and can get a result worthy of what they have left this program."
Kickoff is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. from McCown Field at Wayne and Beth Harvey Stadium on the campus of Carson-Newman University in Jefferson City, Tenn.
Fans can watch the action via the Eagles Sports Network at cneagles.com/live and follow live in-game updates via Twitter from @CN_Eagles.
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