ROCK HILL, S.C. – The two-time defending South Atlantic Conference Tournament champions are the last team standing in front of the top-seeded Carson-Newman women's soccer team (17-2) as the Eagles are set to face the Wingate Bulldogs (15-1-2) Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. at Manchester Meadows in Rock Hill, S.C.
The Bulldogs are appearing in their sixth-straight SAC Championship Final, while the Eagles are appearing in the championship round for the first time since 2009. The two programs have won a combined seven of the past 11 SAC Championships.
The two teams are the top-two teams in the NCAA Southeast regional rankings, which determine the NCAA Championship field. Carson-Newman is the top team in the region, while Wingate moved to second in the latest rendition of the rankings.
Carson-Newman and Wingate have each advanced to the title game via two 1-0 wins. The Eagles picked up wins over Lincoln Memorial in the quarters and Anderson in the semis. Freshman Varin Ness (Sogndal, Norway) and junior Julianne Herrity (Donegal, Ireland) have scored the Eagles' goals in the second half of each contest. Wingate's win over Newberry came in the quarterfinals and Queens (N.C.) in the semifinals.
C-N is 2-0-2 all-time in SAC Championship Finals. The Eagles' two wins came over Tusculum in 2004 and Lenoir-Rhyne 2009. Carson-Newman drew Catawba 1-1 in both 2006 and 2008, but the Eagles knocked off the Indians in penalty kicks both years. Wingate is 2-2-1, but is meeting just its third different opponent in the finals; the Bulldogs have met Lenoir-Rhyne in four of the their five appearances. Wingate won the 2013 title 2-1 over Lincoln Memorial and took home the hardware in 2014 in penalty kicks over the Bears. Wingate also won the 2011 title over Lenoir-Rhyne by a 4-2 score.
Carson-Newman won the 2015 SAC regular season championship outright when Wingate drew Tusculum on the next-to-last day of the season. During the regular season meeting between the two programs, the Eagles knocked off Wingate on Oct. 17th after Herrity headed home a Ness corner in the 86th-minute in a contest that was against the league's top-two teams. Wingate outshot the Eagles that day 13-6. The win was C-N's first win over the Bulldogs in four matches.
Wingate's leading scorer is first-team All-SAC midfielder Kaitlyn Brunworth who has six goals on the year; Brunworth scored the Bulldogs' game-winning goal late in the second half in the semifinal win over Queens on Friday night. The Bulldogs' first-team goalkeeper Alexis Jones has allowed just four goals on the season and has a goal against average of 0.23. The first-team All-SAC keeper owns a save percentage of .927 and has shutout 13 opponents; the save percentage is a SAC record and the goals against average is on pace to break the conference low mark.
Carson-Newman counters with two double-digit goal scorers in Herrity and Ness. Herrity, the SAC's Player of the Week, has 15 goals after scoring the game-winner against Anderson; Herrity is tied for third in the conference with her 15 scores. Ness has tallied 11 goals and is tied for fifth in the league; Ness picked up Freshman of the Year accolades on Tuesday.
Freshman goalkeeper Jessica Fraiture (Hebron, Ky.) is one win away from tying the Carson-Newman for wins in a season by a goalkeeper. Fraiture has 17 wins and is one shy of Melissa Terrell's mark of 18 that was set in 2004.
Carson-Newman and Wingate kick off at 4 p.m. at Manchester Meadows in Rock Hill. Live stats will be available courtesy of the Queens Sports Information and the game will be broadcasted on the SAC Digital Network.
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