JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Trailing 2-0 at halftime, Carson-Newman (7-6-3, 5-4-2) scored three times in the first 14 minutes of the second half to end Tusculum's season Wednesday night at McCown Field.
"That first half was not indicative of what we are capable of," Carson-Newman head coach Simon Duffy said. "To have the response that we did was exceptional, absolutely exceptional. So happy with how they the entire group came together. It finishes us on a good note and that's what we needed going forward to go against another very good opponent in Anderson on Saturday."
With the regular season coming to a close, The Eagles earn the number five seed in the South Atlantic Conference tournament and will face Anderson on Saturday at 5:00 p.m.
The comeback victory is the first time in more than 15 years that Carson-Newman won a game when down two goals. The win is just the seventh under Duffy when C-N allows the first goal of the match.
I don't care for records like that," Duffy jokingly said. "But, I am happy that we broke that kind of a record and scored three goals in that second half."
The Eagles improved to 39-0-2 when scoring three goals or more in a match under Duffy and are 3-0-1 this season.
Tusculum got on the board first off a corner kick. Marja Enste sent the corner kick into the box that was headed on by Adriana Netskos to give the Pioneers the 1-0 lead.
TU was not finished offensively in the opening half. It sent a ball into the box that was touched off the hand of a C-N defender, setting up a penalty kick opportunity. Joey Garrett delivered the goal straight into the back of the net and the visitors led 2-0 in the 26th minute.
Carson-Newman only had two more shots through the rest of the opening half and went to the locker room down a pair of goals.
The Eagles came out possessed to start half number two. After a short pass corner was quickly taken, Addie Henry (Chattanooga, Tenn.) lifted a ball toward the back post where Alba Delgado (Oviedo, Spain) headed back toward the other post and Molly Zander (Baneberry, Tenn.) was there to finish the sequence with a header of her own to bring C-N within a goal in the 51st minute.
"Historically a corner like that has worked," Henry said. "We had one like that against Bluefield State, so we figured we'd try our chances. Alba (Delgado) got on the end of it and it would not have been alive if she wasn't there. Molly (Zander) had a great finish and I'm just glad someone was there to finish it to get momentum going for us."
Four minutes later, Carson-Newman was fouled in the box giving the Eagles a penalty kick. Felicia Frick (Eschen, Liechtenstein) stepped over the ball and drilled a shot in the bottom left corner of goal to tie the match at 2. Frick is now a perfect 5-5 on penalty kick goals in her career.
Four minutes after the equalizer, Selina Jud (Wilderswil, Switzerland) had the ball get knocked to her feet at the top of the box, where she rocketed a shot that deflected off the goalkeeper and into the back of the net to put Carson-Newman ahead 3-2 in the 59th minute. Jud's goal was her fourth this year and the seventh of her career.
The Eagles defense recovered well after allowing the two early goals, only giving up two Tusculum shots in the second half, both of which were off target. C-N outshot TU 13-2 in the final 45 minutes.
Berna Kabakci (Zeddam, Netherlands) earned the win by making three saves. TU's Grayson Patterson made five stops in a losing effort.
Carson-Newman has now scored multiple goals in three of its last four games and has won two of those matches. Overall, the Eagles have eight multi goal games this season.
Next up, C-N meets Anderson for the second time this year in the SAC quarterfinals Saturday at 5:00 p.m. in Anderson, S.C.
