Lady Eagles Roll Past Young Harris, 4-0

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. -- The Carson-Newman women's soccer team used a relentless attack to score three second-half goals on its way to defeating Young Harris, 4-0, on Monday night at McCown Field.

The Lady Eagles were on the attack for most of the match and finished the night with a decisive 30-4 advantage in shots, including a 14-2 advantage in shots on goal.

C-N head coach Phil McNamara was pleased with his team's production on offense, especially during the second half.

"I am delighted with the way we played (Monday)," McNamara said. "I thought we showed a lot of knowledge of the game and patience and great possession. To have that so early in the season is pretty exciting."

"They came out and rolled their sleeves up in the second half and kept working. Give the girls some credit. We took a good step forward in the right direction with this young team."

With the win, C-N improves to 2-0 on the season, while Young Harris falls to 0-1.

After missing on several opportunities early on, the Lady Eagles finally found the back of the net late in the first half. Sophomore forward Trenna Howell (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) slipped past Young Harris goalkeeper Kelsey Cunningham and knocked in a goal in the 30th minute to give C-N a 1-nil lead.

Despite outshooting the Mountain Lions 17-1 in the first half, the Lady Eagles took a 1-0 lead into the locker room.

McNamara said he wishes his team had scored more first-half goals after getting such a high number of good looks.

"We were a little disappointed that we only had one goal at halftime given the fact that we had about 17 good looks at the goal," he said. "But it's early in the year and it's going to take a few more shots percentage-wise for the goals to come. I was pleased that the team kept plugging away and doing the things that they needed to do to be successful."

C-N was more productive with its shot attempts in the second half, scoring three goals on just 13 shots. Junior forward Morgan Gruenenfelder (Sweetwater, Tenn.) tallied the Lady Eagles' first goal of the half off a pass from Andrea Saevik (Bolandet, Norway) in the 60th minute to give C-N a 2-0 advantage.

Gruenenfelder and senior forward Nikki Brannen (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) took advantage of a two on one situation in the 74th minute, as Brannen finished off a pass from Gruenenfelder to give the Lady Eagles a 3-0 cushion.

Sophomore forward Sandra Kaelin (Trachau, Switzerland) scored C-N's final goal of the night off a cross from Howell in the 80th minute.

Cunningham finished the night with 10 saves in the loss, while C-N goalkeeper Shannon Clancy (Toronto, Canada) collected two saves.

The Lady Eagles return to action on Friday at home against Queens (N.C.). The match is set to start at 7 p.m. at McCown Field.