JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. — A six-year drought will come to an end when the 13th-ranked Carson-Newman women's soccer team (18-2) steps foot on McCown Field on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. for a second round match against the Armstrong State Pirates (13-4-3) in the 2015 NCAA Women's Soccer Championship.
The top-seeded Eagles will be appearing in the Big Dance for the first time since 2009. The fifth-seeded Pirates are in the tournament for the eighth-time in school history and making their second-straight appearance. Carson-Newman and Armstrong State will square off for the first time in postseason play on Sunday.
Carson-Newman is 10-7 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. Coach Richard Moodie is making his first postseason appearance with the women's program; he has advanced to the tournament twice with the Carson-Newman men's team. Armstrong is 7-7-1 all-time in the tournament. The two teams last met in 2008 as C-N won 3-1.
"We're really excited about to host the second round at home. We're just hoping for a great game. Armstrong is a fantastic team and they have a great coach on the sideline. The Pirates are a new opponent for us so that will be interesting," Moodie said. "They are a fantastic team offensively. We are excited to be back in national tournament. Regardless of what happens, being in the tournament is how you want to end the season no matter what play for the biggest prize. Hosting again should be a catalyst to motivate."
Carson-Newman's last time on the pitch was one week ago as the Eagles knocked off the Wingate Bulldogs 1-0 in the SAC Championship with Nikki McWilliams (Saintfield, Northern Ireland) scoring the game-winner in the 38th-minute. Armstrong knocked off the Bulldogs 5-0 on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Amanda Green, Taylor Valley and Sarah Olin scored for the Pirates in the win over Wingate. Olin's goals came in the first four minutes of second half play.
Jenny Allen leads Armstrong in scoring with 12 goals. The 2015 first-team All-Peach Belt Conference member has also added five assists. Olin has seven goals and six assists this season. Senior goalkeeper Morgan Luckie has started in 19 of the Pirates' 20 matches. She has a 0.95 goals against average and has made 55 saves on the year.
The Eagles will counter with the South Atlantic Conference's Player and Freshman of the year. The league's Player of the Year was junior Julianne Herrity (Donegal, Ireland) who has registered 15 goals and three assists on the year. Vain Ness (Sogndal, Norway) was the SAC's Freshman of the Year after scoring 11 goals and contributing five assists. McWilliams was third on the team with eight goals.
A win for freshman Jessica Fraiture in goal (Hebron, Ky.) would set a Carson-Newman record with her 19th win on the year. Fraiture has a 0.75 goals against average and has made a 56 saves on the season. The freshman has recorded four-straight shutouts and became the first C-N goalkeeper to register three-straight clean sheets in the SAC Tournament.
"They got some dynamic players. I was talking to a coach the other day and he said they had got a good team last year but were missing pieces. 17-2? You don't get there by accident. We know that any game in the NCAA Tournament is going to be a difficult game. We had to play today and they got to rest so that makes a difference. They deserve that. They're the one-seed and we have to come onto their home field and put a performance like we did today to make it an interesting game. They are a great team and learn a little bit about them. They got some special players," Armstrong coach Eric Faulconer said of the Eagles.
Carson-Newman and Armstrong kick off at 1 p.m. on Sunday from McCown Field. The game will be broadcasted on the Eagle Sports Network as the Voice of the Lady Eagles
