WINGATE, N.C. – Morgan Gray scored a golden goal in overtime, breaking a scoreless tie and propelling the Wingate Bulldogs past the 25th-ranked Carson-Newman women's soccer team, 1-0, at WU Soccer Complex in Wingate, N.C. on Saturday afternoon.
The Eagles suffered their second South Atlantic Conference loss of the season and are 5-2 in conference play and 10-3 overall. Wingate earns their sixth conference win of 2016 and with it, they stand at 6-2 in the SAC to go with an overall mark 8-4-1.
After the teams were unable to resolve a scoreless tie through 90 minutes, overtime began with a few chances for C-N. Julianne Herrity (Donegal, Ireland) and Hannah Henry (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) sent shots on net, but Alexis Jones, who had a great day in goal for Wingate, stopped them both. The deciding tally came in the 98th minute when, after the Bulldogs won a corner, Mary Franklin sent a ball into the 18-yard box, Gabby Fleischli tapped it past keeper Jacqueline Burns (Cookstown, Northern Ireland) and Gray was there for the finish.
The Eagles began the match by trying to force the action, putting seven shots on net and also earning five corners. The Bulldogs could only muster four shots and one corner, but their goalkeeper kept them even. For Carson-Newman, it was the fourth time in their last six games they were held scoreless in the first half after not being shutout in the first 45 minutes in any of their first seven contests.
In the second half, the Wingate defense stiffened and stunted C-N's attack. After sending in two shots in the first two minutes, the Eagles didn't get off another for more than half-an-hour. Carson-Newman still outshot their hosts in the period, four to three, but were again unable to convert on any of their chances. Overall, the visitors held a big edge in shots, 18 to nine, shots on goal, 14 to seven, and corners, seven to two, but they could not find a way to get on the scoresheet. In goal, Jones made 14 saves for the Bulldogs, keeping her squad in the game until Gray's game-winner.
The Eagles have another tough game up next on their schedule, as they are set to welcome Tusculum to McCown Field on Wednesday for a 5 p.m. match. You can find live video and stats on cneagles.com/live and Mark Inserra will call the action. A recap of the match will be published on cneagles.com.
-CN-
