JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Tusculum College's (10-6-1, 6-4 SAC) Taylor Lewis clinched tonight's lone goal for her third straight winning goal against Carson-Newman (3-12, 1-9 SAC). The 1-0 contest boosted the Pioneers to their fourth consecutive regular season victory over the Eagles.
"We're a young team," Carson-Newman head soccer coach Richard Moodie said. "We have a foundation, that's loud and clear. Now we need to add the pieces in and around the puzzle and build from there."
The match remained scoreless through 87 minutes of action. In the 88th, Jenique Thombs sent a flat pass across the Eagles' 18-yard box where Lewis shook her defender and lofted a shot to the upper left corner of the net for her ninth goal of the year.
"It was a flurry in the box that went over our keeper's head," Coach Moodie said. "We made a mistake there that cost us that goal; that's the difference sometimes between winning and losing."
Lewis, a junior, has provided the Pioneers with the game-winning goal over C-N in all three of her seasons at TC. In 2012, the then-freshman scored the third goal in Tusculum's 3-2 win in the 70th minute. The following season, Lewis put up both goals in her team's 2-0 home contest.
"It's a shame for the girls again," Coach Moodie said. "We outplayed the team, we outshot the team. I thought we were the better team."
Tonight, the Eagles outshot TC nine to six and six to four in shots on goal. Junior Mikayla Gregg (Newport, Tenn.) led C-N in shots having taken two, both of which were on target.
Payton DeHart had three shots for Tusculum, all on goal.
"It's been a tough year for these girls," Coach Moodie said. "We haven't been playing bad soccer, but at the end of the day, we need to win games."
Carson-Newman heads back on the road to Alabama-Huntsville for its final away and non-conference match Wednesday at 4 p.m.
