With the win, the Eagles and Bulldogs are now tied for the South Atlantic Conference lead with 21 points each. The loss was Wingate's first loss of the season and its first loss in the regular season since Sept. 20th, 2014 when Lenoir-Rhyne defeated the Bulldogs 2-1.
Carson-Newman knocked off its first top-10 team beating then No. 4 Catawba on November 6th, 2009 2-1 in the SAC Tournament. The Eagles have now beat two ranked foes for the first time in a season since 2009 when C-N beat the Indians and Lynn.
"The girls were fantastic. The back four was solid; Jessica Fraiture came up big when we needed her. It was just a solid performance," coach Richard Moodie said. "Today wasn't x's and o's; it was just work hard and make sure we got the job done. The second half, the girls responded. They outshot us in the second half, but we outworked them effort-wise."
Freshman Jessica Fraiture (Hebron, Ky.) recorded her third shutout on the season and has two clean sheets in SAC play. Fraiture tallied five saves and stonewalled a Wingate breakaway midway through the second half.
Wingate outshot Carson-Newman in each half; the Bulldogs tallied five shots in the first compared to three for the Eagles. C-N had the lone corner in the half, but Wingate was able to clear the Eagles' attempt. The scoreless first half was the first time in 2015 for the Eagles where at least one team did not find the back of the net.
In the second half, Wingate held the advantage eight to three. The Bulldogs attempted the first three corners of second stanza, but the final set piece of the day determined the contest.
Freshman Holly Talbut-Smith (Crawley, England) won a corner after two Wingate defenders near the end line guarded her. Talbut-Smtih played the ball off a Bulldogs' foot. Ness lined up the corner that she swung into the 18-yard box, fell to Herrity's foot and the junior knocked off home the lone goal of the contest.
Wingate had 13 shots to Carson-Newman's six. The Bulldogs attempted three corners, while the Eagles had two set pieces. Wingate goalkeeper Alexis Jones tallied three saves in her first loss of the season.
Carson-Newman was outshot for the first time in 2015 and they were held below 10 shot attempts for the first time since the Tusculum contest on Oct. 27th, 2014.
Herrity has scored all three of the Eagles' goals on the week and has two game-winners in the last four days.
"I'm very, very proud of where we've come as a team. I know the girls are really excited, but as a staff, we're not surprised about the ability for us to beat Wingate. The result shows we were a little bit of belief; we're fighting strong. We will enjoy this one, but there is a long way for us to go before we celebrate," Moodie said.
Carson-Newman returns to the road for a 3 p.m. contest on for its last nonconference contest of the year on Wednesday at King (Tenn.) as the Eagles face the Tornado.
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