MARS HILL, N.C. – The Carson-Newman women's soccer team (5-1, 3-0 SAC) went on the road for the first time in the 2015 season and picked up a 6-1 South Atlantic Conference win over the Mars Hill Lions (0-7, 0-3 SAC) Wednesday night at the Ammons Family Athletic Complex and Meares Stadium.
The Eagles tallied four goals in the first half of play and added two more in the second stanza for their largest offensive output since the Mars Hill game in 2014 when C-N tallied four scores. Wednesday's six-goal performance Carson-Newman has scored a half-dozen goals since opening the 2011 season with a 12-0 win over Chowan.
"Job well done for the girls. They came out slow after traveling, but they still came out with the win. It was a team effort and everyone was able to contribute. Lots to learn from this game and now it is time to think about the next game," assistant coach Sarah Tompkins said.
Junior Julianne Herrity (Donegal, Ireland) opened the scoring in the 17th-minute after a turnover was forced by freshman Holly Talbut-Smith (Crawley, England). Talbut-Smith took her forced turnover and found Herrity running towards the box and Herrity beat goalkeeper Maslyn Greene to her right for the 1-0 lead. The SAC Player of the Week has now scored four goals over the course of the last three contests.
Freshman Varin Ness (Sogndal, Norway) tallied the Eagles' second goal 72 seconds later. Ness dribbled through the entire Mars Hill defense and beat Greene to her right to give C-N a 2-0 lead after 18 minutes of play.
Sophomore Camilla Olsson (Trondheim, Norway added Carson-Newman's third goal in five minutes after firing a laser from the edge of the 18-yard box and beating Greene to her right. Freshman Heida Ragney (Akureyri, Iceland) set up Olsson's goal and recoded her second assist of the year. The score was Olsson's third score of the season.
Ness added her second goal of the contest in the 38th-minute after taking a through ball and set up a breakaway and beat Greene to her left. Ness's two goals were her third and fourth of the season and her fourth in the last four games for 4-0 lead at the halftime break.
Thirty minutes of play passed in the second half before Carson-Newman found the back of the net. Junior Gabrielle Gianeselli (Knoxviile, Tenn.) stole the ball from a Lion defender and beat Greene for goal number three of the year and gave the Eagles a 5-0 lead.
Mars Hill's Breona Tate finally lit up the scoreboard for the Lions in the 77th-minute after taking a turnover in the C-N defensive-third and beat redshirt freshman goalkeeper Katie Cottrell (Knoxville, Tenn.) to cut the lead to 5-1.
Just over a minute later, Carson-Newman responded with a goal from senior Mikayla Gregg (Newport, Tenn.), who received a pass from freshman Gabriela Dias (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) at the far post and gently knocked her first goal of the year home for a 6-1 lead in the 78th-minute. Dias's assist was her first point of her career.
Ness led the team with six shots and Gianeselli added four attempts; Carson-Newman outshot Mars Hill 32 to 14. Freshman goalkeeper Jessica Fraiture (Hebron, Ky.) played 75 minutes in goal and made four saves while not allowing a goal.
The Eagles have now scored 18 goals in six games this season and tied the offensive output of the 2014 season in 11 less games.
Carson-Newman returns to McCown Field for a SAC match against the Queens (N.C.) Royals on Saturday night with kickoff slated for 5 p.m.
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