BRISTOL, Tenn. – By virtue of its second-straight clean sheet, the No. 24 Carson-Newman women's soccer team (12-2) knocked off the home-standing King (Tenn.) Tornado (7-5-2) 3-0 Wednesday afternoon at Parks Field in Bristol, Tenn. as the Eagles recorded their first back-to-back shutouts since 2011.
Juniors Megan Peterson (Parrish, Fla.) and Julianne Herrity (Donegal, Ireland) and freshman Varin Ness (Sogndal, Norway) all scored for the Eagles in the winning-effort. Ness tallied her fourth assist of the season on Peterson's goal.
Freshman goalkeeper Jessica Fraiture (Hebron, Ky.) turned away one shot to record her fourth-career clean sheet.
"We started slow start in the first half but that led to a solid second half performance. We were much better in the second half and we saw a lot of good things. We controlled a lot of the ball and our passes were better in the second and we found the wide area that led to two good goals," coach Richard Moodie said. "Elissa (Lane) showed good quality, especially after we were able to push her high and wide and she was able to find Varin making a late run for the last goal. We saw a lot of good performances from the girls."
Carson-Newman was held scoreless for almost the entirety of the first half with the Eagles registering seven shots before finding the back of the net. In the 40th-minute, Ness lined up a corner kick after King deflected the ball out of bounds. Ness's corner went to the head of Megan Peterson (Parrish, Fla.) who was in the middle of the box and the junior headed home her second goal of the season for a 1-0 C-N lead at the halftime break.
The Eagles tallied their second goal of the contest in the 62nd-minute. Herrity took a cross from sophomore defender Helen Seed (Preston, England) and headed home her 11th-score of the season. Seed's assist was her first of the season.
Five minutes before the end of the contest, Ness found the back of the net. Ness took a through ball from junior defender Elissa Lane (Knoxville, Tenn.) and beat the King goalkeeper Olivia Drake to her left for the third and final goal of the day. Ness's goal was her eighth of the season and snapped a four-game scoring drought for the freshman. Lane's assist was her third in 2015 and the second time that the duo have combined for a goal.
Carson-Newman outshot King 20-6 with 12 of the Eagles' shots coming in the second half; C-N put seven of its 20 shots on goal, while King only found the frame once on a shot.
Ness and Herrity each recorded four shots to lead the Eagles; Peterson and senior Mikayla Gregg (Newport, Tenn.) each had two attempts. Cathernine Walsh was the only Tornado who attempted multiple shots. Kendyl Baird was the only King player to register a shot on frame.
Peterson's goal was her second game-winning goal of her career; the junior also scored the game-winning against Mars Hill in overtime during her freshman campaign.
Pfeiffer and Mars Hill are the last two Carson-Newman opponents to be shutout in consecutive contests in 2011. C-N's four shutouts are also the most since 2011 when that edition of the Eagles recorded five clean sheets.
The Eagles return to Jefferson City for their final home contest of the season as they host the Brevard Tornados on Saturaday evening at 5 p.m. on Senior Day as Carson-Newman honors its three seniors.
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