JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – A battle of two of the top teams in the South Atlantic Conference will take place on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. on the artificial playing surface of Spartanburg Upward Star Center in Spartanburg, S.C. after a venue changed occurred due to Hurricane Joaquin when the Carson-Newman women's soccer team team (7-1, 4-0 SAC) faces the Anderson (S.C.) Trojans (8-1, 3-1 SAC).
Carson-Newman is tied for the lead at atop the SAC table, while Anderson is third; the Eagles and Trojans are both ranked in the Southeast region's top-10 by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
The Eagles are riding a five-game win streak, the program's longest streak since 2010, while Anderson has won its last three contests. AU's lone loss of the year came on the road at Wingate in a 2-1 loss on Sept. 19th.
"Two great teams get to meet and play. We're very similar in style; both teams are very similar in personal with individuals on the team that have came up strong for both teams this year," coach Richard Moodie said. "With the wind and rain, it alters things quite a bit, soccer wise. Psychologically, I think it will have a larger effect with the elements. As long as we're prepared and focused and go there with the right mentality, we just keep continuing with the girls on this win streak that we've got."
Anderson has the highest-scoring offense in the South Atlantic Conference with 36 goals and averaging four goals a game; the 36 goals ranks third in the nation and first in the Southeast region. The Trojans average the most shots per game with 23.3 and the second-highest shot percentage in the league with 17.1 percent of shots landing on frame. The four goals a game ranks fifth in Division-II. Junior Idoia Agirre leads the SAC and is third in the nation with 12 goals on the year. The two-time SAC Player of the Week has scored in six of the Trojans' nine games on the year, but has been held scoreless in the last two contests by Tusculum and Limestone.
Defensively, Anderson averages the second-least goals a game with 0.75 goals against through nine contests. The Trojans have conceded the second-smallest amount of goals with seven and are tied with Brevard in that regard.
"I think we just focus on us. We can't do anything to stop them, so we will just focus on what we have to do as a team, collectively, and make sure we gel together, we play together, we focus on us. They've got a fantastic team and a fantastic coaching staff and they've done great things over there at Anderson. We're just excited to get the game in," Moodie said.
Freshman Varin Ness (Sogndal, Norway) has continued her torrid stretch of play with four goals in her last three contests, including two in the 3-0 non-conference win over Lees-McRae on Wednesday afternoon. The freshman is tied for seventh in the SAC with six goals on the year.
Anderson leads the all-time series 6-5-1; the two teams ended the 2014 against each other at McCown Field where the Trojans took the contest by a final score of 4-2.
Carson-Newman and Anderson kick off at 1 p.m. in the Palmetto State. A full rundown of the contest will be available on cneagles.com following the conclusion of the match.
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