JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Two first half defensive mistakes play pivotal as Carson-Newman (6-6-2) dropped its final non-conference game of the year to (11-3-1) Columbus State 3-0, Monday afternoon at McCown Field.
"I don't want to take anything away from Columbus State, but we gifted them two goals in that first half," Carson-Newman head coach Simon Duffy said. "We seem like a broken record but we've played some really good teams this year and have played tremendously well, but have given up goals that make you scratch your head and think could've, would've and should've. I am so so proud of the effort. Disappointed with the result but definitely not with how the players went about it. If we put in the effort we did today, very very rarely are we going to come out on the losing side and unfortunately we did today."
The loss finishes C-N with a 2-2-1 record in non-conference games and lowers the home record to 3-5. The win for the Cougars is their tenth straight, extending the second-best mark among DII teams.
The game's first shot came off a Carson-Newman mistake. Anna Grady took the ball away from an Eagle defender and slotted a ball into the lower left corner of goal for the 3rd minute goal to make it 1-0.
Grady took advantage of another C-N miscue defensively in the 28th minute. A quick unforced turnover allowed Grady to fire another shot toward goal that got passed Berna Kabakci (Zeddam, Netherlands.) to increase the Cougars lead to 2-0.
Carson-Newman managed to secure the same number of corner kicks and shots in the opening half, just three. The Eagles only shot that was not blocked was Selina Jud's (Wilderswil, Switzerland) that missed wide right in the 32nd minute.
Grady nearly scored a hat trick in the opening half, but Kabakci made an excellent stop on a shot in the 37th minute. Neither team had another opportunity in the opening half and the Cougars led 2-0 after 45 minutes.
Carson-Newman recorded its first shot on goal in the 54th minute when Krista Nielsen fired a shot from distance that Lizzie Hedrick saved. The Eagles' next shot on goal may have been their best chance to score. Columbus State failed to clear the ball away and it ricocheted off the cross bar and fell out of goal, shortly after Jud found the ball at her feet and had the shot saved by Hedrick.
In the 72nd minute, the Cougars got an insurance goal off their only corner kick in the match. Emma Beddow sent a corner toward the back post that was headed by Vanessa Aviles off the crossbar and dropped in across the line to make it 3-0 Columbus State.
C-N's final shot on goal came in the 75th minute from Alba Delgado (Oviedo, Spain.) who forced Hedrick to make her third and final save.
Kabakci made six saves on the nine shots sent her way in the match. The Eagles limited the country's leader in corner kicks to just one in the match.
Jud paced the Eagles offense with three shots, while Savannah Fields (Johnson City, Tenn.) pitched in two as well. Columbus State only outshot C-N 14-10, but 9-3 on goal.
Carson-Newman is back in action on Saturday for Senior Night against Limestone at 5:30 p.m.
