JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn – For the second straight season, the Carson-Newman women's soccer team has earned the title of South Atlantic Conference champions and with it, a spot in the SAC tournament. The Eagles are the two seed in the tourney, which gives them home-field advantage for their first round match-up with the seventh seeded Catawba College Catawba Indians, who will visit McCown Field for a 5 p.m. match.
The Eagles enter postseason play looking to duplicate last year's run that saw them defeat clinched the SAC title with a 7-0 victory over Coker on Saturday, giving them a record of 13-3-1, the best overall mark in the conference, with an 8-2-1 SAC mark. The Eagles also enter Tuesday with perfect 8-0 record at McCown Field this season. Their clean sheet on Saturday was their seventh in eight home games, with Tusculum being the only team that managed a goal in their visit to Jefferson City. Their win over Coker was also the fifth time this season Coach Moodie's team has scored at least five goals.
Catawba got off to a hot start in 2016, as they were 6-1-1 in early October and had a 5-0 SAC record that put them at the top of the conference. Since then, nothing has gone right for the Catawba Indians, as they finished the season 0-6-2 and have failed to score a goal in their last four matches. They also have been shutout in their last four road games, one of which was a 6-0 battering at McCown Field in which they conceded five scores in the first half. The last trip to the SAC tournament for the Catawba Indians came in 2014, when they defeated Lincoln Memorial in the first round before losing to Lenoir-Rhyne in the semifinals.
During their current winless streak, coach Nick Brown's squad has managed only two goals after averaging three scores per-game in their first eight matches. For the season, Catawba has 26 scores, which are tied for sixth in the SAC. Their season high came against Mars Hill on Sept. 17th, when they put up five scores. Caitlin Hill owns the top spot on the team with six goals and she also has a hat trick to her credit this season, which came against Coker on Sept. 24th. Bailey Howell is the leading point getter for the Catawba Indians with 13 on 5 goals and three assists. Shelby Vasich is tied with Hill for second on the roster with 12 points, as she's scored five goals with two assists. Catawba's last goal came on Oct. 15th at home against Anderson when Bree Roberts got on the scoresheet in the 31st minute.
The Eagles have not had any of Catawba's problems, as they've led the SAC in scoring all season. The seven spot they put up on Saturday gives them a total of 64 for the season, the fourth most in the country. They've also racked up the third most assists in Division II with 54. Lauren Wade (Coleraine, Northern Ireland) and Julianne Herrity (Donegal, Ireland) have led the offense this season and are first and second in the SAC in both goals and points respectively. Wade is tied for sixth in the country in goals, with 18, and points, with 44. Herrity isn't far behind with 16 goals, tied for the nation's ninth most, and 38 points, which place her in a tie for eighth. Holly Talbut-Smith (Crawley, England) remains at the top of the SAC leaderboard with nine assists, while Wade and Varin Ness (Sogndal, Norway) are one behind with eight.
Goalkeeper Jacqueline Burns (Cookstown, Northern Ireland) has been overshadowed somewhat by the team's prolific offense, but is in the midst of a phenomenal season in which she's broken the program record with 11 clean sheets. Her goals-against average of 0.52 is the best in the SAC and would represent the best mark in C-N history if Burns maintains it. Her .836 save percentage is also third in the conference and she's also third in the SAC in goals allowed, having conceded nine goals.
The Catawba Indians have struggled to settle on a goalkeeper this season and three different players have received multiple starts in net. Liz Nail has started seven times, Shelby Thompson has started five games and Shannon Hardy has four starts and all three players have seen time in Catawba's last four contests. Each keeper has a shutout to her credit, but Nail has the best stats among the group. Her 1.24 GAA, 37 saves and .822 save percentage all lead the team. Despite this Hardy started the teams' last game on Saturday against LMU.
Carson-Newman will be looking for it's third straight win in this rivalry on Tuesday, following their 7-0 victory over Catawba this season and a 4-1 win in 2015. The Catawba Indians still hold a substantial edge in the series, with 19 wins to C-N's 12, including nine triumphs in 15 games in Jefferson City. The last time these teams met in the SAC tournament was in the 2009 semifinals and the Eagles came emerged victorious, 2-1.
Live video of the match, as well as live stats, will be available on cneagles.com/live with Mark Inserra providing the play-by-play. The postgame recap of the contest will be published on cneagle.com.
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