SALISBURY, N.C. – Junior Julianne Herrity (Donegal, Ireland) and senior Nikki McWilliams (Saintfield, Northern Ireland) each scored two goals as the Carson-Newman women's soccer team (9-2, 6-1 SAC) picked up a 4-1 South Atlantic Conference victory over the Catawba Indians (3-8, 2-5 SAC) Saturday afternoon at Frock Athletic Complex.
Freshman Heida Ragney (Akureyri, Iceland) added three assists in the victory; Ragney's feat of three assists was the time an Eagle had that many assist since Brittany Moore contributed to three goals against Lees-McRae on Oct. 5th, 2005.
The win over Catawba was the first time two Eagles tallied mulit-goal performances since a 12-0 win over Chowan in 2011; on that day in 2011, three C-N players had hat-tricks and a fourth found the back of the net twice against the Hawks.
The Eagles have now won two-straight contests and are 6-1 since the SAC slate opened on Sept. 16th; the victory was Carson-Newman's 11th in the series history.
"It was a good game. There were moments where there was great football but weather was issue; it was pretty detrimental to us," coach Richard Moodie said. "The girls looked good and they had great movement with the ball. We had a lot of great individual performances, which was highlighted by Heida (Ragney) who was impactful with three assists."
McWilliams opened the scoring in the sixth-minute who beat goalkeeper Bethany Davis in a one-on-one situation to give the Eagles the early 1-0 lead. Ragney was given an assist on the play. McWilliams's goal in the sixth-minute marked the second-consecutive match the Eagles tallied a goal before the 10th-minute of play.
Herrity added her first goal of the contest six minutes later in the 12th when she took a cross from Ragney and beat Davis for the 2-0 lead. The junior has now scored in the first half of play twice in 2015 with the other event occurring against Mars Hill.
Herrity added her second goal in the 18th-minute to push the Eagles ahead 3-0. Ragney took a shot from distance that hit the cross bar and deflected back into play; Herrity headed home the deflection for Carson-Newman's final score of the first half.
The score remained 3-0 until the 41st-minute. Catawba was awarded a penalty kick after the Eagles were called for a foul in the 18-yard box. The Indians' Alex Twombly stepped to the spot and beat C-N goalkeeper Jessica Fraiture (Hebron, Ky.) for the goal. Carson-Newman led 3-1 at the halftime break.
McWilliams capped the scoring in the 77th-minute when she was fed the ball by Ragney and took a shot from distance to beat Davis and give the Eagles a 4-1 win.
McWilliams and Herrity each contributed two goals for the second time this season; McWilliams performed the feat against Queens (N.C.) and Herrity scored twice against Newberry. Herrity now has three game-winning goals on the year, which is tied with freshman Varin Ness (Sogndal, Norway) for the team lead.
Fraiture allowed one goal and made three saves, while picking up her ninth win of the season. Davis allowed four goals but made eight saves in just her second start.
The Eagles outshot the Indians 22-11; Herrity led the team with six shots and Ness had four in the win. Shayna Passantino led Catawba with four attempts.
Carson-Newman caps its five-game road trip with a 5 p.m. kickoff against the Young Harris Mountain Lions on Wednesday in the Peach State.
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